Back in Session
by AnimeKiwi369
Summary: It's been almost a year since Yui first met the gods, and her life is back to normal. Until Zeus decides to recall her to a recreated version of his school to once again play a part in his new plan. Besides those who were there before, goddesses have been brought in as well. Will Yui be able to help everyone or will history end up repeating itself? And how will love play into this?
1. Prologue

**AnimeKiwi369:** Salve, omnes! Et accipio vos ad novam fabulam mei. Hic est mea fabula secunda in hic aream et fabula adeo placeo ut hanc ponere non maneo!

Kamigami no Asobi et personae huius ad me non adtigunt. Tamen hanc fabulam et novae personae ad me adtigunt.

Gustate!

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Back in Session

Prologue

Her eyes widened at the damage the garden had taken. She couldn't let this happen…

Not again…

Not again…

Not after all the new friends she'd made… Not after all the new memories she had made with everyone… Not after the love she had found…

She couldn't lose those bonds twice! She wasn't ready for that!

Yui Kusanagi gripped her pendant and raced through the remnants of Zeus's garden towards the destructive light that had consumed her friend. The sword had worked once before. Surely it would again. It _had _to! She silently prayed that everyone would be all right. That they would make it through this. That things wouldn't end like they had last time.

She _couldn't _let history repeat itself.

Yui _wouldn't _let that happen.

_Not this time… _

_Not this time!_

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**AnimeKiwi369:** So did I freak anyone out with my beforehand comments? Due to the "Ludere Deorum" subtitle in Kamigami no Asobi, I couldn't resist greeting you all in Latin! Even though "Ludere Deorum" literally means "to play of the gods" and not "mischief of the gods"... Don't worry, though, I'm not likely to greet you guys like that every chapter. **;**)

Roughly translated, it reads: _"Hello, all! And I welcome you all to my new story. This is my second story in this area and the story pleases me so much that I could not wait to put it up. Kamigami no Asobi and its character do not belong to me. However, the story and new characters do belong to me. Enjoy!"_

By "new characters", of course I mean OCs. I'm going to warn you all now that this FanFiction contains many, many OCs, however I won't say any more on the matter until they show up. **:**) Anyone care to guess who these new characters might be? **;**)

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. A bit vague and foreshadowy, no? Which was what I was going for, by the way. I'm really excited about this FanFiction, and I look forward to going through it with you all! My life is about to get hectic with college, so I ask for patience in updates, but luckily, I don't have writer's block for this story so far. Therefore, that shouldn't be much of an issue. **:**)

I'll see you all next time! Please be kind and please review! **:**D


	2. Chapter 1: Déjà Vu

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve, iterum, omnes!_ Or, rather, hello, again, everyone! So now that you've had a taste of what's to come, let's jump into what leads up to that. Thanks you to those of you who Favorited and Subscribed, and I hope that more of you will become interested in this story soon!

Anyway, I don't own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_, but I do own the plot and OCs.

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Back in Session

Chapter 1: Déjà Vu

…_Kusanagi Yui…_

Yui stopped in her tracks as a soft wind blew her hair across her face and looked around. Confusion cross her face when she saw no one. She could have sworn she heard a familiar voice calling to her. The violet-haired girl shrugged it off and jogged to catch up to her friends after Akane had called out to her if anything was wrong. Why she stopped. She told her friends she was all right; she was just hearing things. She went back to following behind her friends as they chatted about their plans for their final school break before graduation. It was almost hard to believe that they would be graduating soon.

The brown-eyed swordswoman still wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life. She had started cram school, but the direction she wanted her life to take she just didn't have figured out. And she was running out of time. She wished she had more time to think about things. She'd been so distracted lately that she had hardly thought about her future. Maybe it would just be best to stick with helping run the family shrine until she sorted out her future. Yui knew she wanted to stick with her swordplay at least; she had been practicing for so long it was practically ingrained into her. She wasn't sure if she _could_ let go of swordplay.

The girl quietly tuned out of her friends' conversation, thinking back to how close it was to graduation. Yui hadn't realized that it had been so long since she had been thinking how she didn't know what to do with either her future career or love life after moving up a year. Had it really only been last March, almost April that she had been wondering the same things before being whisked away to Zeus's garden? Had it really been nearly a year since then? She smiled to herself, thinking of all those fun times she'd had with the gods.

But then with what happened with Balder, the God of Destruction, collapse of the garden, and her ultimately having to be sent back without a proper goodbye. That memory still saddened her. She hadn't been herself when she had returned and everyone had seen it. When all of the gods had shown up just a few months later, however, she forgot about missing them like she was. Yui was just happy that they had come back to see her, for her to teach them again. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt that happy about anything. Her friends showing up after she had no idea what happened to them was the greatest gift she could have ever received.

She cherished everyday with them even more since they had been there. Explaining things to her family had been a bit difficult though. The brown-eyed girl had no idea how to explain to her parents and older brothers the sudden appearance of eight gorgeous men in her life. She couldn't really tell them that they were actually eight gods from three different cultures. No one would have believed her. Yui still wasn't sure how well her parents and brothers bought her explanation that the gods were exchange or transfer students she had volunteered to help adjust to life in a new city. The girl had a feeling her mother and father didn't buy it, but they went along with the explanation because their daughter was happy again after having been depressed for months. Her brothers, Jun and Manabu, she was sure, didn't believe either, but used the opportunity to tease her about how she knew so many boys that all seemed to like her.

Yui wondered, though, how much longer she'd have with her friends. While they did want her to teach the ways of being human again, not even they knew how long they had on Earth, before they were called back to their realms. Surely they had duties they had to do, being gods and all. Didn't they have other loved ones that missed them? She desperately wanted to ask them about that, but she couldn't bring herself to. She knew she had to, but finding the right time to ask was more difficult than she had imagined. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't even really know how the gods had gotten to her world in the first place or what happened after they sent her back. The brown-eyed girl had been so concerned with the fact they had come back into her life that she didn't realize she didn't know these things.

The violet-haired girl sighed inwardly, making up her mind. She _had_ to address those issues.

"Yui?" Akane asked, causing her to snap out of her thoughts, "Is something wrong?"

"Why are you crying?" Her other friend inquired.

The swordswoman hadn't felt it, but there was a tear that had made its way down her left cheek. She hadn't even felt it. She wiped it away, "I must have gotten something in my eye."

"It is a little windy," Akane commented before they started walking again.

Yui bit her lip. That felt all too familiar. The exact same thing happened before she was brought to Zeus's academy. And then that was the exact moment she was sent back to when the garden collapsed. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she ignored it. It was simply a coincidence and nothing more. It _had_ to be a coincidence. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as the three of them reached the entrance to her family's shrine and bid her friends farewell for the day.

The brown-eyed girl made her way up the steps, wondering when the gods would show up that day. She hoped there would be at least enough time to figure how who she was going to address the issues at hand. She said a quick hello to Jun and Manabu as they headed off to do some errands for their mother. Yui greeted her father and mother as she passed by them on her way to her room to change out of her school uniform. She pulled her hair out from the back of her blouse, wondering how long it would be until the gods showed up; she wished they had decided to go to her school with her, but some reason or another, they opted out. She was sure they had a good reason, though; they were probably just being cautious, so they wouldn't be found out for who they really were.

Whatever their thinking was, she still got to see them nearly every day. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait too long today. Until then, she did have a few chores she had to take care of.

_Kusanagi Yui…_

The brown-eyed girl whipped her head around. There it was again. Stronger this time. One time she could believe she was hearing things by mistake, but twice? Was she hallucinating? No, that couldn't be it. Everything about today was just too similar to that day last year.

"This can't be a coincidence," she said to herself. She felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach, hoping she was wrong, instinctively reaching for the sword pendant she had worn during her time at Zeus's academy, "But just in case…"

Yui ran out of her room and the house, heading to the storage shed. Her brown eyes widened when she saw a brief flash of bluish-white light in there. She was sure of it now. This was no coincidence. She clenched her fists and walked toward the door, slowly, at first, but soon she broke into a run again. She ripped the door open, and she felt a wave of anticipation wash over her as she saw a long, familiar box. The violet-haired girl swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. Tentatively, she took a step towards the box.

She had to know.

She took a deep breath as she untied the string that kept the box shut. Yui lifted the lid and felt her breath hitch in her throat.

There it was.

The Sword of Heaven's Gathering Clouds.

Her brown eyes were transfixed by its beauty once more. She reached out to touch it but stopped herself. Why was it back? Why was it in her life again? Was this Zeus's way of calling her back to his garden? Hadn't it collapsed, though? Why would she have to go back, anyway? Her friends were with her on Earth. They were still learning about humans; just not at Zeus's academy. There wasn't any reason for her to abandon her friends just to return to a potentially barren garden.

But what if there was a reason?

What if other gods needed to learn about humans to strengthen their connection with humanity? What if there was another god who had the potential to become a god of destruction, like Balder had? What if, by going back to the garden, Yui was able to prevent another disaster for the human world? But what if only another painful goodbye came to be? And did she really want to leave Apollon and the others for another extended period of time?

The violet-haired girl went back and forth on every "what if" situations she could think of and debated on whether or not she wanted to return to Zeus's academy. She was so close to graduation, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to repeat yet another year of school. But still, the sword was there for a reason.

_Kusanagi Yui…_

The voice again. It sounded almost pleading now, and that said a lot considering who she was sure the voice belonged to. Something was definitely wrong with the gods. She couldn't ignore it any longer. Yui took another deep breath, hoping she wasn't going to regret her actions, and placed her hand on the sword.

As her hand touched the Sword of Heaven's Gathering Clouds, another brilliant blue-white light flashed before her world went black.

Yui slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on a familiar stone sun mosaic floor. She slowly sat up, her head throbbing a little. She looked next to her in time to see the sword shrink back into the familiar little pendant around her neck. The brown-eyed girl looked around the atrium-like room and slowly stood.

Everything looked just as it had the first time.

She was back in Zeus's garden.

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**AnimeKiwi369:** I admit, the end of the chapter is a bit rushed, namely because I started to get stuck. And I also admit that this isn't the most exciting of chapters. The next chapter is much more interesting...

Because most of the OCs and a few of our lovely gods will be making appearances! So I hope you all stick around for that. Anyone want to guess who some of the OCs might be? I'll only give this hint, look at the summary and the various Mythologies used in _**Kamigami** _to try and figure it out. **;**)

Also, once the identities of the OCs are revealed, I'll make sure to list them either at the beginning or end of a few chapters afterwards, so that you as readers can keep them straight. I think I might also give brief biographies of an OC each chapter. Maybe for the chapter they're the focus of?

Well, until next time, please be kind and please review! **:**)


	3. Chapter 2: New Faces, Familiar Places

**AnimeKiwi369:** Mondays are the official updating days for this story. Unless I run out of chapters or don't have time. Anyway, thank you all for the lovely reviews. I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as the last! There is definitely much more excitement in this chapter than the last.

_Thank You To to the Following Members for Reviewing:_ **Cato Yugi**, **OtakusOnline**, **ilovefonandalaude**, and **sailor winx**.

I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi._** I do, however, own the plot and the OCs, but not exactly because they are based off Mythology.

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Back in Session

Chapter 2: New Faces, Familiar Places

Yui looked around for a few minutes. She couldn't believe it. She was back. Actually back! The garden looked just as beautiful as it had the first day she'd come there. It looked nothing like the rubble she had left. This couldn't be the same garden. Zeus must have rebuilt it for his own reasons. The brown-eyed girl looked down at the sword pendant around her neck. She hadn't a clue as to what it was last time, but now she knew that it would guide her. Now if only she knew what she needed to be guided to. What was going to play out this time. She really hoped this wasn't going to end up like last time.

The violet-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a door open and looked up. The door ahead of her had cracked open slightly, but no one stood there. She slowly rose to her feet. She might as well look around again. See if everything was in the same place as last time. With any luck, she might run into the new gods she was supposed to educate. As she pushed the door open fully, Yui couldn't help but wonder how the others were doing. She knew they were going to worry about her. She smiled at the thought that the eight gods would try to rescue her. Or, better yet, come back as students.

None of them had gone through the graduation ceremony, like they had planned to, because of what happened with Balder. This could be their chance to graduate together like they planned. Maybe Zeus was giving them a second chance to do so! Yui liked the thought more and more with each passing second. She knew it was unlikely, though. Apollon and everyone else's shackles had come off. They really didn't need to be back in the academy just based off of that. Still, half of her hoped that they might come and go through this with her again.

The other half was prepared to have to teach new gods about love and humanity. As Yui walked through the familiar halls, she wondered what these new gods would be like. She had a feeling that the gods would most likely be of the same nationalities her friends were. The brown-eyed girl thought about how many different gods there were in both Greek and Norse mythology; she couldn't even begin to narrow down which ones would end up being students with her. Japanese mythology was a little easier for her to narrow down, but she still didn't know who might become her new friends. She wondered if any of the Japanese deities might be land gods. She liked the idea; it would be something different to work with. She couldn't help but be curious as to if any Egyptian gods would be accompanying her this time.

Aside from Master Thoth, that was. As she thought about it, Yui realized that even if Tsukito and the others weren't there, she would at least known more than just Zeus. Master Thoth was bound to be the instructor again. He was the God of Knowledge, after all. She almost smiled at the thought of seeing her teacher again, but it was mixed with the exasperation of having to deal with him ordering her around to fix her own problems and not being of much help with the other gods. Perhaps it would be better if a different God of Knowledge was the sensei this time. But she wouldn't know who would be there until she met with Zeus.

The violet-haired swordswoman could hear each and every echo of her footsteps. The halls were absolutely devoid of any and all life besides her. She found that strange. If this were last time, she would have run into Hades by now. She frowned. Maybe everyone was already gathered in the hall? Or maybe they were simply in a different part of the school? Yui reminded herself that this wasn't the same as the first time. So why should she expect to run into her new classmates in the same places she had with Hades, Tsukito, Takeru, Loki, Balder, and Apollon?

The new gods were probably exploring the place. If they were anything like her friends, half of them would be curious about the garden for curiosity's sake. The other half would be curious to find a way back to their world. She sighed, knowing she would have to go through the same task of getting everyone to attend class and join a club. There were bound to be the gods that didn't want to participate. She thought about the trip she and everyone had made to the beach in an effort to convince the truants—as Tsukito had called them—to come to classes. Yui thought that it would probably be a good idea to change things around and go on a camping trip this time. Even if it would only be a changeup for her.

She wondered if she could possibly combine both the beach and camping expeditions into a single trip. If Zeus wouldn't interfere and change the weather again—like he had to get them to go on their trip—she bet it would be possible. She sighed again; knowing Zeus like she thought she did, things wouldn't be up to her. He had control over everything in this garden. Everything.

So long as the violet-haired girl would be able to get what she planned to done, she'd be fine with it. Yui stopped and looked out between two Greek-style columns, towards the courtyard and gardens of the academy. The longer she thought about having to go through another year here, the more she found herself liking the idea. She would get to complete some unfinished business, and, because she was at Zeus's school previously, she would have a better idea as to what she should do. The brown-eyed girl made a mental note to keep a better eye out for a god who might be like Balder and potentially become a God of Destruction.

Yui shook her head, trying not to think of that time. She looked around, starting to get worried about not seeing anyone.

"Excuse me?" She called out, "Is anyone there?" She was greeted by stony silence, "I guess no one's here yet." The brown-eyed girl smiled to herself, thinking of another option, "Maybe these gods are shy?"

"Shy?" Another voiced asked, though she couldn't see who it was. Yui guessed they were behind a pillar.

She was surprised by the voice. Not by the fact she got a response, but from the voice itself. The violet-haired girl was expecting a strong, masculine voice belonging to a god. Instead she was greeted by a light feminine voice. Yui watched as a girl who looked about her age stepped out from behind a pillar. She stood a few inches taller than her, and her golden hair was pulled into a low side ponytail on her left. There was a slight curl in her hair, and her eyes were a bright emerald green. Her features were sharp, and she wore the exact same uniform Yui once wore, the fabric hanging perfectly on her slender figure. Aside from the slightly lighter shade of gold hair and the fact she was a girl, she looked nearly identical to Apollon.

_She's so beautiful,_ the violet-haired girl thought.

"_Very few_ gods are shy," the girl told her with such confidence that almost bordered on arrogance. The blonde girl grinned, "Or goddesses for that matter."

Yui blinked a few times before figuring things out, "You're a goddess." Things started to makes sense; Zeus wanted her to help teach _goddesses_ what it meant to be human.

"And I'm assuming you're the human representative," the green-eyed goddess commented.

"Y-Yeah," she responded tentatively.

A brief smirk crossed her face, "So you're the one he wouldn't stop blathering about." Her face darkened slightly, and she looked Yui dead on before she turned and started walking away, "I don't want to be here. And I don't plan on staying."

The brown-eyed girl chased after the blonde as she went through a door, but by the time she thought she might have caught up, the goddess was gone. Yui stopped her chasing and pursed her lips together, thinking of the encounter. She wasn't entirely sure why Zeus had brought that goddess to the academy, but it _was_ clear she was going to need some convincing to accept this reality. She sure had looked like the Greek God of the Sun. The violet-haired girl had the nagging feeling she was probably a Greek Goddess and related to the others somehow. Apollon and Dionysus were brothers; was that goddess possibly their sister? If she was their sibling, the green-eyed goddess was definitely less accepting than either of them.

Yui sighed. She was much more intimidating than the other Greeks, save Zeus and when she was first getting to know Hades. The blonde girl was going to be a bit of a challenge. The human representative hoped that the other goddesses wouldn't be as challenging as she thought the one she just met would be. Handling goddesses was definitely going to be much, much different than handling gods. She wasn't sure she was up to it; girls could be much more…volatile in their emotions. Yui knew this all too well.

On the bright side, they wouldn't be vying for her affection. Right? She hoped not anyway; the violet-haired girl thought she had read somewhere that some cultures had deities of that persuasion. If that were the case, things were going to get awkward. And fast. She shook her head. No, she was being silly. Wasn't she? She really didn't know if she could handle being fought over by goddesses; gods she could handle. Somewhat. But having girls attracted to her…freaked her out, personally. She didn't know how she would handle that…

Yui shook her head again and started walking again, trying not to think about her potentially awkward situation. It took her a moment to realize that this was the same hallway she had first followed Usamaro into a classroom, where she had first met the Totsuka brothers. She remembered how scared of Susanoo she had been, with his rough personality. It seemed so silly now. And then how Tsukuyomi had been generally clueless on most things he did, like with his perfect notes but not knowing any of the material. She stopped again and gazed out the window, wondering how the Japanese gods were doing. She looked towards the doors on her right. Many of them were closed, but a couple of them were open slightly.

The brown-eyed girl walked over to a door, smiling to herself, hoping she might find the two gods of her home country in there.

"Excuse me," she said quietly as she pushed the door open.

She sighed internally, not seeing either of the Totsuka brothers. She looked around the dark classroom, and her eyes widened when she saw someone else in there. Another girl. Yui wondered if she was another goddess. The girl was just barely shorter than her, and her figure was a little less developed than that of the gold-haired goddess; she was about Yui's size. She was in the same white uniform the girls wore at the school, though she wasn't wearing the blazer, instead opting for a short kimono-like jacket that was a peach-pink color that faded to a lighter shade from the top to the hem. It was loosely held together with thin ties attached to the jacket and she had no tie whatsoever. The girl's hair was a light aquamarine tied in a low side bun on her right side with a curled strand hanging loose on her left, framing her face. She was facing the blackboard, studying it. Yui took a few steps into the room. She was about to say something when the girl turned around; her eyes were a light pink. She looked confused.

"Do you know where we are?" The goddess asked formally as she walked over to the violet-haired girl.

She nodded slightly, "If it's the same as last time, it's a school for the gods."

"'Gods', hmmm?" The blue-haired girl questioned. Yui nodded again, and the girl started to walk towards the door, "All right. Thank you."

"Where are you going?" The brown-eyed girl asked, starting to follow the other girl.

"To find a way home," she responded calmly. Almost too calmly.

"But Zeus-san has a plan," Yui commented.

The other girl turned around, her previous composure shattering as she shook, "I am not spending any time with gods or goddess. I'm not staying here!"

"Wait!" The violet-haired girl called after her as she dashed from the classroom, but, again, it was too late.

The new goddess was gone. She sighed, dejected. This was going to be much harder than she had thought it was going to be. That was already two goddesses who showed no interest in attending the academy. How many more, she wondered, would be the same? Yui started to walk through the halls again. She thought about continuing to retrace her steps through the garden, like the first time, hoping she would run into the other goddesses and/or gods. She still didn't know quite what Zeus had planned. And the brown-eyed girl wasn't ready to confront the God of the Heavens quite yet.

Yui decided against retracing her steps, unsure if she wanted to see any of her other new classmates, after those first two experiences. She walked to the end of the hall, contemplating what the actual point of her being there was. Wondering if there was some other reason besides learning to be human that Zeus had in mind for them. She walked out to the courtyard, needing fresh air to think. No sooner had she left the building than she heard the distinct sound of arguing somewhere outside. She turned to go back inside, not wanting to get involved, but stopped when she heard a familiar masculine voice. As much as she didn't want to pry, she needed to know if she was hearing things or not and took off at a jog towards the sound of the arguing.

The brown-eyed girl stopped at the top of the stairs at the end of the courtyard that led to the gates of the school. Her eyes widened. At the bottom of the steps were three people arguing. A girl with pale mint green hair and dark lavender eyes in the school uniform with black calf-high boots and gray stockings that ended at her thighs stood below. Her figure was slightly more developed than the last girl she had run into and just barely less than the first goddess. Her hair was braided and pinned up in a crown-like fashion with a white bow pinned in the center with the tails hanging down. Most of the girl's bangs were pinned back, and she had two strands of her hanging down, framing her face, much like the blue-haired goddess Yui had just met.

With third goddess, were two familiar blue- and lavender-haired Japanese Gods of the Sea and Storms and the Moon. Takeru and Tsukito were there! The human girl felt a surge of relief flood through her. If the two Japanese Deities were there, then it was a good bet that the others were back in the garden as well. Even if they were the only two of the gods to return, at least she wouldn't have to go through this experience in the garden again alone. She noted that the two were still in the civilian clothes they generally wore, and Tsukito was holding Usamaro. The brown-eyed girl wondered why the three were arguing; it seemed as if they knew each other. Was this new goddess one of Japanese origin?!

"Susanoo-kun, for the last time, I have no idea why I was brought here!" The girl cried, obviously irritated with the volatile god, "Or you and Tsukuyomi-sama for that matter! You two were already brought here once, how am I supposed to know why you were brought a second time."

"Totsuka Takeru," Tsukito said before his younger brother could get another word in, "it appears she is in the dark, too. And," he paused, turning to look in Yui's direction, "it seems that we were not the only ones recalled. Kusanagi Yui has been, as well."

Takeru turned to look at her, "Weed, you're here, too?!"

The violet-haired girl hesitated for a moment before starting to descend the stairs as both Totsuka brother came halfway up the steps. The Japanese God of the Sea looked genuinely relieved as they reached her. Although Tsukito still had a stoic face, Yui could tell he was relieved.

"It looks like we're in the same boat again," she greeted them.

"Thank goodness you're all right," Takeru told her. "We were worried you would worry over us when we didn't show up to the shrine today."

"'We'?" She repeated.

"Everyone else is here as well," the Japanese God of the Moon informed.

"Really?" Yui asked, shocked. She let out a sigh of relief and placed a hand on her chest. She wouldn't have to start with zero relationships. She would have her friends to help her, "Have you seen where the others are?"

The blue-haired teen shook his head, "No. We haven't seen them since got called back here. But we know they're here. Ani and I were going to go look for them when we ran into her." He gestured towards the bottom of the stairs; the goddess who had been there moments ago was gone, having slipped away when the attention of the Totsukas was no longer on her. Takeru grabbed his brother's wrist and started hurrying down the stairs, trying to find the goddess, "Hey! We're not done here!" He turned back towards Yui, "Sorry, Kusanagi! We'll catch up later!"

"Oh…kay…" She responded slowly as she watched the two head out of sight.

She smiled to herself. The two were still inseparable, even when brought back here, even though Takeru was just having his brother follow him. The violet-haired girl turned towards the school again, wanting to go find the others. She felt it would be easier confronting the goddesses, knowing the others were there now. But that still didn't make convincing the other girls of what they needed to do any easier, seeing how all three had reacted similarly. How many more goddess were there, she wondered. If she were to guess, she would say eight, since that's how many gods had learned alongside her last time, and if that were the case, then that meant, she still had five more girls to run into. Now if she could just get them to tell her their names; none of the other three had mentioned their names before taking off. That last hadn't even addressed her.

Yui rubbed the back of her neck, walking towards the front doors again, "I hope I'm cut out for this."

"'Cut out for' what?" A feminine voice behind her asked.

The human girl spun back around, startled and fell to the ground on her rear. She looked for the source of the voice and didn't see one. She blinked; was she hearing things again?

"Up here," the same light, playful voice giggled.

The brown-eyed swordswoman looked up at a tree branch, where a girl she thought was a little taller than her and about Takeru's height sat. That space looked familiar, and it took her a moment to realize that that was the same branch Loki was on the time he had drawn on Susanoo's face. The presumable goddess had long wavy light auburn-colored hair that had a slight reddish tint to it and reached just below her mid-back. Her hair was loose except for a small section that was braided on either side of her head and pulled back into a ponytail resting against the back. She had calm, yet playful amber eyes that were framed by full dark lashes and a small beauty mark at the corner of her left eye that was barely noticeable.

She wore a different uniform than the traditional one at the academy. The goddess wore a white uniform shirt with long sleeves that were rolled up to her elbows and the two top buttons undone. She didn't wear a blazer, and the buttoned up vest was dark magenta instead of black. The red tie was done loosely, though the standard belt was in place. She wore the same black uniform skirt and black stockings, but her white boots were calf-high. Similar to the guys' uniform. The goddess was twirling a piece of hair between the fingers of her right hand that looked similar to a certain redheaded god the violet-haired girl knew; she could see the goddess's nails were painted dark red. The amber-eyed girl was also well-developed, being slightly more so than the blonde or Japanese goddesses.

"What's the matter?" The auburn-haired girl inquired, grinning, "Did I startle you?"

Yui slowly got back to her feet, chuckling awkwardly, "Just a little."

"Sorry about that," she apologized. She held onto the branch and leaned backwards until she was hanging upside down, not seeming to care her skirt threatened to be subject to gravity "By the way, have you seen my friend? Her eyes are green as jade and wears her sandy-ash hair in long braids."

The way she described her friend was reminiscent of the way Loki had first described Balder to her. Was this goddess Norse, like those two were? And if so, did she know them and Thor? She decided not to ask about that, and shook her head, "No, I haven't."

"That's too bad," she told her, flipping down from the tree, setting down on the ground with the grace of a cat. "I was sure she came here with me." She thought for a minute before she looked up, looking like she had an idea, "Then can you tell me if you've seen a redheaded or a blonde boy both with long hair or a boy with short green hair around."

She had to be talking about the Norse Gods of Fire and Light; again, she shook her head, "No, but I was told by my friend that they are here. Somewhere."

A brief smile crossed the girl's face, "Is that so?" She started heading towards another part of the garden, "Okay, then! I'm in a bit of a hurry, see you later."

The Japanese girl didn't wait for the girl to jog out of sight before she headed back towards the hallway. She felt a little less stressed about these new goddess. At least that one was somewhat friendly. She had to have been a Norse goddess. Her mannerisms were so similar to Loki's it was almost scary, though it was probably a coincidence. Although she didn't want to say she suspected the auburn-haired goddess was Norse based off her braids, she had a feeling that was a good indicator. Even though that second Japanese goddess and Dionysus had braids, they were the only ones besides all of the Norse gods. It was a subtle thing that she had noticed the Norse shared in common with each other, although Thor's was only in his god form.

Yui let the thought go as she found herself walking past another familiar part of the school. She smiled as she came to the small inner garden and gazebo she had first met Balder in and where she had eaten a few times with Takeru when they had trained together. She stopped, feeling another sense of déjà vu as she went by. She realized what it was when she saw another goddess leaning against the frame of the gazebo, surrounded by a few birds. The brown-eyed girl thought back to how the Norse God of Light stood in the exact place almost a year ago.

This goddess looked exactly as the last had described her. Her hair was a combination of light ash and sand-colored blonde that reached her waist. She wore twin braids with a white headband that tucked one slightly behind her right ear and the other covering her left. Her jade green eyes were kind as she softly laughed at the birds that surrounded her. She wore the standard school uniform that accented every curve of her well-developed figure. She was a little less endowed than the last girl, but just barely. The goddess seemed to notice someone looking at her and turned towards Yui. She smiled gently.

"Hello," she greeted in a soft voice.

The violet-haired girl started walking towards the goddess, "Hello. I think I ran into your friend who was looking for you."

"Oh, really?" She inquired, "Thank goodness. I was worried when we got separated. The two of us were talking with our other friend when we fell unconscious, and the next thing I know, I woke up here."

"Oh, really?" Yui asked, smiling a little, "That sounds like what happened to a friend of mine last time we were here."

The goddess's jade eyes widened in curiosity, "You've been here before?"

The Japanese girl nodded, "Yes."

The blonde moved closer to the swordswoman excitedly, "Then are you the human who helped save Balder?!"

The brown-eyed human smiled, nodding, "Well, it was really Loki who saved him. But I did help."

"I'm eternally grateful to you," the goddess smiled brightly, taking both of Yui's hands.

She giggled at the reaction, feeling at ease with this goddess; she had such a calming presence. In a way, she was reminded of how at ease she felt when she first met Balder. She gently squeezed the other girl's hands, "I really didn't do anything special. But I'm glad I was able to help."

"No, you did so much more," the jade-eyed girl insisted. "You showed Balder what genuine friendship is. What it was like for someone to care for him because he was him and not because he is the God of Light. For someone other than Loki to show that to him. It's because you showed him that you and the others cared for him that way that his life was able to be saved. And for that, I thank you."

Yui was taken aback slightly by the other girl's fervor as she spoke. She seemed to care a lot about Balder. The Japanese girl just gave another smile, "So you're friends with Balder-san and Loki-san?"

The blonde goddess nodded, "I'm Nanna. What's your name? Balder, Loki, and Thor only ever mentioned a human girl without mentioning her name."

"I'm Kusanagi Yui," the violet-haired girl responded.

"'Kusanagi Yui'?" She clarified and the girl in question nodded, "That's a very nice name. You are from Japan, yes?" Again, the human girl nodded, "And your first name is Yui?"

"Yes," the grown-eyed girl nodded.

Nanna took her hands again, still smiling, "It's so nice to finally meet you, Yui."

Yui smiled at the Norse Goddess, "It's very nice to meet you as well, Nanna-san."

The blonde girl looked past the brown-eyed human, as if looking for someone. She let go of her brown-eyed girl's hands again, "I believe I must be going now. I should go find my friends." She started to hurry from the garden, almost like she was trying to hide from something. Nanna turned back for a second, "Let us get together later, Yui!"

Yui didn't have time to respond before the goddess turned back around and hurried off. She watched as Nanna left her. Out of the five goddesses she had run into that day, the Norse Goddess was definitely the friendliest and easiest to be around. It was almost like how her first encounter with Balder had been. Between her and the other Norse girl, the similarities between them and Balder and Loki were amusing. The violet-haired girl wondered just how close they were to the Norse Gods of Light and Fire. And why her friends never mentioned any of the other Norse Deities they knew. She could understand though, due to the estrangement they had with the other Norse Gods.

The brown-eyed girl smiled to herself, feeling a little more at ease being back in the garden. She felt better with having met the jade-eyed goddess. She seemed like someone she could definitely talk to. Yui could hear footsteps approaching her in the distance as she stared after the newest goddess. She turned towards the sound, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw two familiar blonde gods walking towards her, looking deep in conversation. Both Apollon and Balder were also in the clothes they wore in the human realm, and the two of them didn't seem to notice her. She felt a smile come back to her face at the sight of her friends.

"Apollon-san!" She called to them, catching their attention, "Balder-san!"

"Yousei-san!" Apollon cried, surprised as they ran over to her.

"Yui-san, you were brought back as well?" The blue-eyed god asked her.

She nodded, "Yeah, and so were Takeru-san and Tsukito-san."

"Really?" The God of the Sun inquired, receiving another nod, "So if Take-Take and Tsuki-Tsuki are here, too…"

"Then everyone else is as well," Balder finished.

"And we're not the only ones here, either," Yui added. Both the gods gave her an inquisitive look, "I've run into some…others."

Apollon's brow furrowed, "'Others'? What do you mean 'others'?"

"I think I've run into some goddesses," she explained. "When I ran into Takeru-san and Tsukito-san, they were with a girl who I think is a Japanese Goddess."

"Yui-san," the Norse God asked, "did you see any others besides the one with Takeru-san and Totsuka-san?"

She nodded again, "Yeah, but I only got one of their names."

"Did any of them," Apollon started, looking a little nervous, "look similar to me, Yousei-san? Did any?"

"Or did any of them," Balder was asking, "have either amber or jade eyes?"

"Uh, yeah," Yui said to both of them. The Greek boy started to look more scared than she had seen ever seen him, and the Norse God looked slightly concerned, but not terrified like Apollon. The brown-eyed girl looked curiously at them, "Do you know those girls?"

Both nodded and opened their mouths to speak, but stopped when they all heard a loud, booming voice.

_Kusanagi Yui._

She looked around in time to see a bright flash of light, seeing an elaborately carved wooden door in front of her. Yui turned her head over her shoulder, only to see she was alone. She had been brought to Zeus's chambers by herself.

_Enter, Kusanagi Yui._

She swallowed. She knew she was going to have to face Zeus sooner or later.

Yui took another deep breath before she placed her hand on the heavy door and opened it.

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** So what did everyone think of the goddesses that showed up this chapter? I rather enjoy all of them, but one of my favorites doesn't show up for another couple of chapters. Care to guess who she is? Or any of the goddesses are, excluding Nanna, who was introduced this chapter? Or the pairings?

Well, until next time! Please be kind and please review! Can't wait to hear what you all thought!** :**)


	4. Chapter 3: A New Task

**AnimeKiwi369:**_ Salve, omnes!_ Another Monday, another update. All right, now we're going to get down to business! We're going to finally see why Yui, the gods, and goddesses have been summoned! As well as the identities of the remaining goddesses!

_Thanks To The Following Members For Reviewing:_ **ilovefonandalaude**, **keller75863548724483**, **sailor** **winx**, and **LilweenGalatrass**.

_And Thanks Also Goes To The Following Guest Reviewers:_ **Guest**

I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi_** or its characters. If I did I'd make sure the "_**Ludere Deorum**_" was accurately translated. I do, however, own the storyline, and I half-own my "OC"s, since they are based off mythology. But their looks and personalities I think I can get away with saying I own. **;**)

Anyway, onto the chapter!

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 3: A New Task

Yui took another deep breath as she opened the door to Zeus's chamber, where he watched over everyone and everything that happened in the garden. She felt nervous as she entered into the room; she was sure he was just as intimidating as he had been the first time. Maybe even more so since she hadn't been in his presence for so long. But since she knew what she was expecting, maybe he wouldn't be _quite_ as scary. She had no idea what the Greek God of the Heavens had in mind for her regarding the academy. Or any of her friends for that matter. The violet-haired girl was desperate to know, though. She needed to know why she was brought back. How everything fit together.

Like, why was she _specifically_ brought back? Surely there was someone else who could handle the job? Someone who might be able to handle goddesses better than she could? Why not just bring a human boy to be the human representative for the goddesses? Or another girl? Why did the gods who had been through Zeus's school previously have to be involved? And what were their relationships with the girls who had been summoned? It was obvious that Takeru and Tsukito knew the goddess they had spoken with and that Apollon knew the girl who looked like him and that Balder knew the two goddesses she now knew were Norse.

What was Zeus's new plan? Did he simply want the gods to learn more about humanity and love? Alongside goddesses who had lost their connection with the human world? Did he just want them to finish going through an entire year including graduating together? Or was there something more? Apollon had seemed rather frightened by the fact the goddess that looked similar to him was there. Balder had looked concerned over the two Norse girls. And the Japanese Goddess seemed like she didn't quite get along with Takeru.

A thought occurred to Yui as she pushed the door all the way open. The gods had been summoned before had struggled the most with their connections to humanity. But while they gained knowledge on the human heart, did they start losing the connection they had with their fellow gods and goddesses? Was that the reason that Zeus recalled them? If so, were the girls she had run into the goddesses each of the gods had lost touch with? And was that the only reason that the different girls brought there? Or were they there for more than that? Had they possibly lost their connection to humanity _and_ their fellow gods?

The brown-eyed girl looked up at the Greek God of the Heavens and ruler of the academy. Zeus was sitting on the throne in the room, watching her every move as she walked towards him. She forgot about her nervousness with each step, wanting to find out why he had called her back. When she was so close to graduating at her school in the human world. Yui looked over Zeus, feeling another sense of déjà vu as she approached him. He wore the same deep red and gold robes he was accustomed to, and his golden eyes were calculating. And not one golden hair was out of place. Apollon's father held his scepter in his left hand as he sat in his throne.

Yui stopped a few feet away from the steps that led up to his throne. Pillars were still on either side throughout the room, and she couldn't help but wonder if Master Thoth might be around somewhere. She wondered again if there was going to be another teacher to help everyone learn about the human heart. The violet-haired girl's eyes didn't leave the fierce gaze Zeus watched her with. He stood up from his throne slowly, towering well over her.

"Kusanagi Yui," he said, his baritone voice no longer resonating.

"Zeus-san," she responded. She took another deep breath as she steadied herself to address the issue. Her brown eyes locked with the Ruler of the Heavens, "Why have you brought us back here?"

"Welcome back," he told her with a slight smirk, as if he hadn't heard her. "I see you have not forgotten who I am."

"How could I?" She asked, "After everything that happened. Why have you brought us back here, Zeus-san?" She repeated a little more fiercely.

"Kusanagi Yui," he addressed.

"Y-Yes?" Yui answered, frightened by the seriousness of his tone.

"Nearly one year ago I brought you here to teach the gods who struggled the most with their connections to humanity about the human heart and love," he started. "And by doing so, we were able to avoid a terrible fate. But not before this garden was destroyed from the measures it took to save Balder."

Her eyes widened, "So the garden _was_ destroyed?! How did everyone make it out?"

Zeus gave her a reprimanding look for interrupting that made her cringe, "After you were sent back to your own world, I had just enough strength to send everyone back to their own realms."

"Then how did Apollon-san and the others make it to the human world?" Yui asked, receiving another look for interrupting.

"After months of recovery, Apollon and the other begged me to let them go to, seeing how not being with them had affected your life," he explained. "It was only supposed to be a temporary measure of one year so you would get to see everyone again and return to your normal life."

Her eyes widened. This was the first she had heard of this. So her friends really weren't staying indefinitely. They had only had another year to be with her? No wonder the eight tried to avoid the subject whenever it was brought up. Deep down, though, she knew they couldn't stay forever. Yui stayed silent, letting the Greek God know he was able to continue.

"However, in allowing those eight gods to go to your world and even by bringing them here originally, a new crisis may be at hand," he continued. "Both events have caused a rift between them and their fellow gods. As such, Apollon and the others have begun losing their connection with the other gods, even though they have come to understand the human heart. I have recalled those gods back to help them strengthen their ties with the other gods. But there is always more for them to learn about humanity. That is why you have returned, Kusanagi Yui."

"So that's why," she responded, "the goddesses are here."

"Yes," Zeus continued. "You have already met five of them."

He raised his staff and swept it across an empty space of air, bringing up four images. Much like how he had shown her the gods her first day there. In the panel closest to her were the two Norse goddesses, who were now walking through the hallway together. The one next to it had the mint-haired girl who had been arguing with the Totsuka brothers; she was standing near a tree in the courtyard, studying the area. The one after depicted the goddess she had found in the classroom, and she was in another classroom, standing next to a blackboard. The image closest to Zeus was the blonde girl who looked incredibly like Apollon leaning against a column, arms crossed over her chest, looking irritated.

"Norse Goddesses, Nanna and Sigyn," he introduced, starting at the far image and working back. "Japanese Goddess Ame-no-Uzume. Japanese Earth Deity Kushinadahime. And Greek Goddess Artemis. It is true that the goddesses that I have summoned here are here in order to strengthen the weakening bonds between them and the original gods brought here. The goddesses have also lost their connection to their fellow gods. However, there is more to them than that. The girls I have summoned here have also lost faith."

"'Lost faith'?" The Japanese girl questioned, her eyebrows knit together in confusion, "How can they lose faith?"

"In many ways," the Greek God answered. "The goddesses that were brought here have lost faith in humanity, but also in their fellow gods."

"That explains why their connections with each other are weakening, doesn't it?"

"Yes," he told her, "and if their faith in humanity and the bonds between the gods is not restored, another terrible future for gods and humans may be in store. That is why you have been brought here, Kusanagi Yui. You have been summoned here again not only to teach the gods and goddesses about humanity and love, but also to help them restore their bonds and faith in one another."

Yui stayed silent as Zeus finished speaking, trying to process the new information. So all her guesses as to why the gods and goddesses were there at the academy were right. When Apollon and the others had come to the garden last year, it had separated them from the other gods. And because they had become so close to the Japanese girl, they had started to lose their bonds with them, too. Going to the human world must have been the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of weakening the bonds to the point where they had to be brought back to Zeus's academy to fix things.

Still, why did she have to be brought back _now? _Why did everything have to happen now? Did the Greek God of the Heaven's see this as her fault? That she had caused the rift between the gods because of her teaching them about the human heart? Or because she had been miserable without them until they had come to the human world? Could it have been her fault? _Was_ it her fault that the gods came to her world and broken their connections with those of their kind? If it was, she had an obligation to fix what she had done. But was it really her fault? She had only reacted as any human ripped away from her friends would.

As much as Yui didn't want to think it was her fault, would she be able to do what she had been brought for the first time? It had been difficult enough to get everyone to work together last year. Trying to get her friends _and _the goddesses to go along with Zeus's plans would be much harder. Not to mention that the brown-eyed girl didn't know how in the world she would start to help the gods and goddesses repair their relationships. She didn't even know the relationships between them. How was she supposed to get them to mend their bonds? And in regards to the goddesses, how had they lost faith in humanity? Had they also lost faith in themselves? She didn't know where she should start.

The violet-haired girl's head felt like it was spinning. Could she even do it? Yui looked up at Zeus and thought she saw a look of desperation. She blinked. His face was determined and told her that she didn't have a choice but to help. Not even a hint of desperation was in there. She still had her doubts on whether or not she would be able to help the gods this time around.

She looked Zeus straight in the eyes, "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"As I've told you before," he responded, "you don't make the rules. I do. Kusanagi Yui, you _will_ help. You will not be released from my reconstructed garden until your role has been fulfilled once more."

Hesitantly, withholding a sigh, she nodded, "Fine, Zeus-san. I'll help teach the gods and goddesses and help them strengthen their relationships."

The Greek God almost looked surprised at how quickly she agreed to his plan. He thought she was going to refuse, storm out, and change her mind later again. Zeus let a pleased smirk cross his face, "Very good." He sat back on his throne, "Now, go. When all are gathered in the hall, I will tell the others of the plan."

"Okay," she said, hurrying out of his chambers.

After she left, a man with dark skin and white hair stepped out from the shadows and came to stand at the Greek God's side, his arms crossed over his chest. Thoth looked at the ruler of the academy, "She was more agreeable than last time."

"She still has her doubts, however," Zeus commented.

"Why would she not?" Another voice—a rich feminine one—responded, coming out from the shadows and leaning against a column at the foot of the steps, "The situation is much more grim than when she was here last. Still…" The woman's indigo eyes looked towards where the human had exited, "it will be interesting to see how she handles what's to come."

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** Yes, I purposefully left the new teacher's identity a secret! For now anyway. So there you go! The current introduced goddesses are (in order of appearance last chapter): Greek—_Artemis_, Japanese—_Kushinadahime_ and _Ame-no-Uzume_, and Norse—_Sigyn_ and _Nanna_. If anyone wants to guess pairings, possible surnames, or what they are each a goddess of, I encourage you to do so. I'm quite interested where your thoughts are going.

And don't worry, there are still four, plus the teacher to be introduced. Sadly, the new teacher and three of the goddesses you won't meet for another couple chapters. Any guesses who those might be? How about the goddess who will be introduced next chapter. Undoubtedly one of my favorites. **:**)

I may have to slow my updates, since I'm not getting a lot of time to type. You know, college... It takes up a lot of time. But today is going to be a day for relax, writing, and catching up on my simulcasts! I do have to do laundry, though...

Anyway, until next time! Please be kind and please review! I look forward to all your thoughts! _Valete!_ **:**3


	5. Chapter 4: A Welcome Distraction

**AnimeKiwi369:** Barely two weeks in and the burnt popcorn causes an evacuation of the _entire_ residence hall and the fire department to be brought in... Only my floor... Anyway! _Salve, iterum, omnes!_ As you could probably tell from the previous comment, I had a pretty interesting experience yesterday, and it's actually kind of funny. At least when I'm older, I'll have fun stories to tell of my Freshman year of college.

So, not quite as many reviews last chapter, but that's understandable, though I'm still not getting used to not quite as many reviews, since I came from a larger fandom. Oh, well. I'm working to build this one up! But many thanks to those who did review.

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFictions Members For Reviewing:_ **ilovefonandalaude**, **LilweenGalatrass**, and **ironhideandratchtet4ever**

Sadly no _anonymies/Guest Reviewers_ this time. **:**( But we get to meet one of my favorite goddesses this chapter! **:**D

Well, I don't own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_; I just own the plot ,and I half-own my OCs, since I took them from the various Mythologies.

_Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 4: A Welcome Distraction

Yui sighed as she walked out of the academy's main building. Zeus was as intimidating as ever and as tyrannical. She really didn't want to do this. She wanted to go back to her world and finish up her last year. The brown-eyed girl almost wondered if maybe she was just having a dream and would wake up any minute. She pinched her hand; it hurt. It wasn't a dream. She was still in the miniature garden, and she still had to go teach gods and goddesses about humanity. This was going to be so much more difficult than before. But if she was able to handle this once, she should be able to a second time. And Apollon and the others would help. At least with the learning about being human.

The Japanese girl had no clue as to go about repairing the broken relationships between the gods and goddesses. There were so many things to consider in being the middleman—or, middle woman in her case—in mending bonds. She didn't know what the relationships were like before the eight gods had come to the academy or how the experience last year had affected it. Which relationships were more broken than the others was another factor. And how the goddesses might view her in regards to how she might affect their relationships with the gods they lost touch with. Would any of them besides Nanna accept her? Two had outright said they didn't want to be there.

With those questions, Yui could only wonder how she was going to gain all of the goddesses' trust. It had taken months for her to gain _everyone's _full trust. The violet-haired girl didn't think she would be able to handle that again. Especially since it sometimes took much more effort to gain a girl's friendship. She couldn't stop thinking that some of the goddesses might see her as a threat in some way or another. If she didn't build relationships of her own with the girls she would spend the next year with, things would go absolutely nowhere.

The swordswoman stopped at the tree she had first met Apollon at and let out another sigh, dropping to her knees. She really didn't know where to start. Yui hadn't felt this helpless since when Loki told her the only way to save Balder was to kill him. Why couldn't her life have been normal? That was all she wanted. She had it, too, until the day she was first summoned to Zeus's academy. Ever since then, her life refused to be normal. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that she would become so close to _actual_ gods. Or that she wouldn't want to leave their sides to the point where she saw no happiness in life without them.

The Japanese girl felt tears come to her eyes as she remembered what Zeus had told her. The gods had only been granted one year in the human world, which was cut short by this. That meant that Apollon and the others… After this year at the garden… After everything was fulfilled and everyone had graduated… She'd never see them again. Yui wanted to cry; she was just going to lose her friends all over again. This was going to be the last year she would ever get to spend time with them. She'd hardly known them a year, and, yet, they had become the biggest part of her life. Her life was never going to be the same.

Would her relationships with the goddesses become the same? Was she going to become close friends with the other girls to the point where they were all her best friends? Only to be ripped from her life after graduation? The violet-haired girl knew the answer. Yes. She knew deep down that she was going to become good friends with the goddesses as well. Only to have to say an absolute final goodbye to them once the year was up. Could she handle going back to her world after losing so many friends at once? She didn't like that thought one bit. But it was inevitable. She couldn't change that fate.

Yui let out a short, shaky laugh as she thought about whether or not it would be possible to go with gods back to their world, instead of returning to Earth. She shook her head, tears clinging at the corners of her eyes. That was even more impossible than finding a way for her friends to stay with her. She was a human; she couldn't go to a land filled with gods. Even if she could stay in a land of gods for the rest of eternity, which land would she even choose? If that was a possibility, she would still have to choose to go to with the Greeks, the Japanese, or the Norse. No matter what happened, she was going to have to say goodbye to some of her friends. How could she choose just one realm? How would going with them even work, anyway? If she wanted to spend the rest of her days with the gods, did that mean she had to choose one of the gods to spend the rest of her life with? As a lover?

Her face felt warm at the notion. She loved all of her friends. But she didn't _love _them in _that _way. Or did she? In the time she had spent with them, they had all come to hold a special place in her heart. All had been wonderful to her. Was it possible she actually was _in love_ with one of them? Or was she even able to choose _just one?_ Each of them had were unique and special to her. And if she had to choose, how would that affect her relationships with the others? Would they be jealous or happy? No, she knew the answer to that, too. They would more than likely be jealous, but they would hopefully come to understand and accept and be happy for her and whoever she chose in time. Wouldn't they?

Another thought occurred to her. How would a possible romantic relationship with one of the gods affect her and the gods' relationships with the goddesses? That might become a problem. Goddesses were well-known for their ability to hold grudges and have jealous rages. If she was to have a romance with one of the guys, it might not end well for anyone. Maybe it was just better for her to get rid of the idea of falling in love with a god. She knew it couldn't work out. What had happened with Cassandra and Apollon was a perfect example. It could never become a reality. Yui would just have to settle with retaining her close friendships with the gods.

The brown-eyed girl lifted her head, thinking of romance again, a new idea coming to her. Was it possible some of the relationships she was meant to mend had to do with romance? Did Zeus want her to play _matchmaker_ for the gods and goddesses? Or would that just be a bonus on the road to strengthening bonds? She blinked, thinking of the possibility. Could the goddesses be there this time so that the gods could truly come to understand what love was by falling_ in love_ with someone other than her? Like with the goddesses who their bonds had weakened with? Did any of the gods or goddesses even think about such things? Would any of them, regardless of who it was, fall in love just by coincidence, though? Maybe it was just something that was an option, but Zeus didn't care one way or another?

"All of this is making my head hurt," Yui moaned, putting her head in her hand. "I really don't know if I can keep up."

The rustling of tree leaves caught her attention, but she didn't look around. There wasn't any wind. It was just her imagination. She was too engrossed in her thoughts to even notice the sound of something falling.

"Watch out!" A young, slightly high-pitched feminine voice called. The brown-eyed girl looked up as a young girl fell through a few branches and crashed the base of the tree. She winced in pain as she rubbed her lower back, "Ow, ow, ow, ow…"

Yui blinked in surprise at the girl in front of her. She had on the school uniform with gray stockings and black, calf-high boots. The blazer was a little big on her, hanging loosely on her small figure and rather flat chest. Her curly burgundy hair was short, just reaching her chin, and her blue-violet eyes were in slight pain. There was a scattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose, and a few twigs and leaves were stuck in her hair from the fall along with a few minor scratches. Although the violet-haired girl had guessed this was another goddess, she seemed different than the others. She almost looked like she was a lot younger than the rest. Not by too many years, but enough to convince the human girl that if this goddess attended human school with her, she'd probably be addressing Yui as "Kusanagi-senpai" and be an excitable first-year.

The young-looking goddess looked up at the Japanese girl, her eyes widening in surprise, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall. You're not hurt, are you?!"

The brown-eyed girl blinked at the apology, "No, it's fine. I'm okay. Are you all right?"

It was the burgundy-haired girl's turn to blink, as if surprised someone was concerned for her. She smiled and nodded, starting to pull leaves from her disheveled hair, "Yes! I'm fine. This happens to me a lot, actually!"

"Falling out of trees?" Yui asked skeptically. The younger girl shrugged, prompting her next question, "Why were you up there anyway?"

"I wanted to see what this place was like," she answered excitedly. "This tree looked really high up, and I thought I could get a good view from up there." Her demeanor dropped slightly, "But I could only get halfway up before I slipped."

The Japanese girl chuckled softly and stood up, offering her hand to the goddess, "You should be more careful. Curiosity killed the cat, you know?"

The blue-violet-eyed girl gave a guilty smile as she took Yui's hand, "I know. I've been told that a lot." She stood up; she looked only about five feet tall, shorter than Yui. The young goddess looked around and then back to the swordswoman, "Do you know what this place is like?"

She nodded, "Yes. It's a kind of floating island that Zeus created to teach the gods."

The burgundy-haired girl turned away slightly, putting her hands on her hips, "Zeus, huh?" She sighed, turning back towards Yui, "I should have guessed. Mama always warned me about his strange ways." Her eyes widened slightly, looking as if she had forgotten something. She looked up to the taller girl, "I forgot to introduce myself!" The girl took her hands and beamed up at her, "I'm Persephone. I'm a Greek Goddess. What's your name?"

"I'm Kusanagi Yui," she answered.

"I'm very glad to meet you!" Persephone told her; she looked around a bit, "By the way, how do you know it's a floating island?"

"Well, you see," she started, "I've been here before."

"Oh, really?" The goddess asked, and she sighed, pouting in a playful childish manner, "I wish I could see how it's a floating island." The girl thought of something and her eyes shined, "Can you show me?!"

Yui shook her head, "When I went and saw it, it was with Apollon-san on his Pegasus. So I don't think I'll be able to do that. But…" She thought for a moment and snapped her fingers. She smiled at Persephone and grabbed her hand, "Come on, Persephone-chan!"

The brown-eyed girl led the younger goddess into the building, glad for the distraction Persephone had given her. She tried to remember her way on the second floor to the spiral staircase that had led to the roof of the academy. The place where she had first figured out that she wasn't in her own world anymore. Where she first ran into Apollon's Pegasus. And where she had run into Loki on her way down. The roof wouldn't give them the full view of the garden, but it would allow the burgundy-haired girl to see more of it without having to climb up a tree again.

The Japanese girl slowed her pace as she and the Greek Goddess walked through the entryway to the rooftop. She brought the burgundy-haired girl to the edge of the roof and took her hand away from her. Yui watched as the younger girl's eyes widened in surprise, amazed at the beautiful landscape. The violet-haired girl looked from the surprised goddess to the rest of the garden. It was still as beautiful as it had been a year ago. The lush green forest and fields, the crystal blue waters of the rivers and ocean, the beautiful greenish-blue crystals that were intertwined in the rocks. She felt a tug at the corner of her lips, once again amazed at the splendor of the academy.

"Oh, wow!" Persephone exclaimed, "This is amazing! This is so _kalos_!"

Yui gave the blue-violet-eyed girl a slightly surprised look; Apollon loved using that word. She giggled at the goddess, "You're very excitable, aren't you?"

The younger girl nodded, "Yep!" She marveled softly at the garden again, "I'm excited."

"What do you mean, Persephone-chan?" Yui asked, tilting her head.

"Being here," she answered, looking dreamily out towards the edge of the floating island. "I'll be able to do anything here, and I won't get yelled at."

"'Yelled at'?" The human girl inquired.

Persephone seemed to snap out of her daze and looked at the Japanese girl with a crimson blush painted on her cheeks. She waved her hands in front of her in embarrassment, "It's nothing! Nothing at all!" She put her hands together and closed her eyes, bowing slightly, "Please forget I said anything, Kusanagi!"

The violet-haired girl blinked, confused, before she softened her expression. This young Greek Goddess was so innocent and silly. Yui put a hand on her head and tousled her hair, smiling at her, "I will, Persephone-chan."

The burgundy-haired goddess looked up with slightly teary eyes and bowed low, "Thank you so much, Kusanagi!"

She touched the girl's shoulder, "Come on, Persephone-chan. Let's go see where everyone else is."

The younger-looking girl stood up straight and nodded eagerly.

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** So, yeah, Persephone has made her debut! She's honestly so adorable, I'm so excited about her part in the story, though I'm still working things out with her relationship. And I'm sure everyone knows who she'll end up with, but I won't spoil, just in case not everyone knows.

I don't have much else to say, other than I'm still looking forward to hearing from you all, and I hope you're all excited, too. And Loki's new character song is super addictive, as well as Balder's... They're all super amazing, though!

Like I think I mentioned last update, I might start slowing updates a little, since, you know, college... Not a ton of free time... I also ask again that you all be patient with me, and I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long.

I also keep forgetting to put a few warnings in here... I'll try to remember that next chapter...

Anyway, until next time! Please be kind and please review! I look forward to your feedback! **:**3

_Valete, omnes!_


	6. Chapter 5: Shackled Once More

**AnimeKiwi369:** Well, other than the floor below us deciding to set off the fire alarm at eleven at night, this week has been relatively smooth! Don't you just love hearing how crazy my life in college has been so far without doing any kind of partying? _Mira est._ **;**)

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following Member Reviewers:_ **Cato Yugi**, **sailor winx**, **LilweenGalatrass**, and **ilovefonandalaude**.

_And Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **Guest**

You all get a little dose of everyone this chapter! I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum_**. If I did, I wouldn't use an infinitive verb in the subtitle... I do own, however, the plot, and I half-own my "OCs", who I have based off mythology.

_Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 5: Shackled Once More

Yui led her new companion back down through the spiral stair case to the rest of the school. The two walked in a comfortable silence down the hallways. Persephone didn't have any idea where they were going; she was just happy to be in the presence of someone nice to her. The Japanese girl hadn't felt her anxiety diminish so much since when she first met Apollon. The younger goddess's presence was calming with her enthusiasm. With such excitement, she had to wonder why Zeus had brought her to the garden.

She let her mind wander back to the other goddess, realizing that she still hadn't met two of them and figured she would see them when they were all assembled. That had happened with Dionysus and Thor, after all. Yui hoped that the guys would be in there as she and Persephone came to the door that led to the great hall. She wanted to see them so badly, make sure they were all right. See if they were okay with the being summoned back. She had a bad feeling that the same four who didn't want to participate the first time wouldn't want to initially this time, either. Then again, maybe Hades would help; after all, his reason for not wanting to be a part of anything was because he didn't want his misfortune to affect anyone. He had gotten over that—for the most part. He had his days…

The brown-eyed swordswoman opened the door to the great hall for her and Persephone. She let out a silent sigh of relief when she saw all of girls were scattered, some looking more irritated than others. They didn't seem to notice her as she and the young Greek Goddess slipped in. She looked around again at the different goddesses she had run into, along with two she didn't recognize. Yui thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye as the burgundy-haired girl gave her an apologetic look and slipped away from her to join the other two goddesses from her mythology's origin. She looked back to what caught attention and saw two gods that didn't look at all familiar, standing behind a pillar near the entryway Thoth had come through when he was first introduced. They looked as if they weren't trying to be seen.

The first was crouched on the ground, like an animal, looking disinterested, but also like he was nervous. She wasn't completely sure he was a god, but since the other was female, she guessed he was male. The god had dark skin and black hair that was cut into a bob. There were two tufts of hair on either side of his head that flared out, making it look like he had an animal's ears. He was in a skintight body suit that looked similar to the school uniform with gladiator sandals, but he had the uniform blazer hanging loosely off his arms. Although she hadn't seen him before, there was something that seemed familiar. If she were to guess his and his companion's mythology's country of origin, she would say they were Egyptian, like Thoth, who, she now noticed, she didn't see around.

The other Egyptian was a goddess; she was leaning against the pillar, looking irritated that she was there. She was wearing the standard female school uniform, but the red tie was loosely tied and the first two top buttons were undone. Her figure was about the same as Artemis and Ame-no-Uzume's—the first and third goddesses she met; she wasn't completely sure she had their names down yet. Her hair was a dark coppery brown and pulled into a slightly curly ponytail; there were two loose strands on either side of her face. She had dark skin, as well, and her eyes were a fierce dark gray that avoided everyone else's. She gave off a rather intimidating presence.

The human girl looked around the room, looking at the other goddesses. She could see Nanna and Sigyn—that was the name, right?—on the second floor of the hall with another girl, who, she guessed, was also Norse. The goddess was about the blonde's height and about the same build as Yui, although she did look a little more muscular than most girls. She had wavy dark blonde-light brunette hair that reached her shoulder blades and was held behind her ears with a gold-colored headband. Her eyes were green. The uniform she wore was the same as Persephone's, having gray stockings and black, calf-high boots with the standard girl's uniform. Her arms were crossed slightly below her chest, and she looked bored. Nanna was leaning over the balcony a little, her elbows resting on the barrister, her face in her hands, while Sigyn leaned with her back against next to her friend.

Yui looked over towards one side of the base of the staircase where Persephone stood with two other goddesses. The first was the golden-haired one, whose name she remembered was Artemis, who was leaning against the end of the banister, her eyes closed, her face twisted in irritation. The other looked a little older than two of and about the same age as Dionysus. She was taller than the other two, looking about the same height as Loki. She had long light reddish-brunette hair that was hanging loose about her, and her bangs were pinned back. She had same shade of green eyes Apollon, Dionysus, and Artemis had, and the Japanese girl couldn't help but wonder if she was related to them.

The Greek Goddess was sitting on the end of the staircase's banister with her right leg dangling and her left pulled to her chest. She also looked bored. She didn't wear the same uniform as the others. She wore a low-cut white-tunic like blouse that had dark brown leather armbands around her upper arms and below the bust of her well-endowed figure. Yui thought it looked similar to what ancient Greeks would wear. This reddish-brunette wore the uniform skirt with white thigh-high stockings and black knee-high boots. She wore two feathers that pointed down—one brown, like a sparrow, and one white, like a dove—in her hair on the left side of her head. Even though she looked bored, she gave off a calming presence like Dionysus.

The violet-haired girl looked to the other side of the staircase, where the two Japanese deities were. The mint-haired girl—she believed that was Ame-no-Uzume—stood with her right arm resting across her stomach, gripping her left. She didn't look bored or excited, but rather neutral, much calmer than when she was arguing with Takeru earlier. She was watching the top of the staircase for something to happen. The other Japanese goddess—Kushinadahime, wasn't it?—was off to the side of the staircase, trying to stay hidden from everyone else. She seemed very tense compared to everyone else.

The brown-eyed human looked over to see her friends were standing not too far from her, all speaking quietly with different expressions. They were probably all wondering what they and the goddesses were all doing there. Yui made her way over to the guys. Hades was the first to notice her coming.

"Kusanagi!" He exclaimed quietly, surprised. The other seven turned to look at her.

Apollon rushed over to her, a worried look on his face, "Yousei-san! I was worried when you left us! I was so worried!"

"I'm guessing Zeus summoned you to him, Yui-san," Balder said much more calmly, though he was eyeing the way the Greek God of the Sun had grabbed her hands.

"Y-Yeah," she responded a little hesitantly.

Loki let out a loud, exasperated sigh, putting his arms behind his head, "What does Zeus want with us now?"

"Now that everyone has gathered, I shall tell you," the Greek God of the Heaven's loud voice resonated through the hall as he entered. He came halfway down the steps and surveyed the rest of the room and all of the gods, goddesses, and Yui. He looked where the gods and human girl were with a slight smirk, "Welcome back, my beloved students. And welcome to this garden, goddesses."

"Cut it out, old man!" Artemis shouted.

"Why did you bring us here?!" Kushinadahime yelled, moving from her place behind the stair banister, glaring at the ruler of the school.

Zeus ignored the two of them, but looked at the latter, who cringed.

"Japanese Earth Deity, Kushinadahime."

He looked at the other Japanese goddess, whose eyes had piqued interest.

"Japanese Goddess of the Dawn, Ame-no-Uzume."

He turned his attention towards the girls on the second story. He first looked from the blonde girl to the amber-eyed one and then to the green-eyed one.

"Norse Goddess of Joy, Nanna. Norse Goddess of Fidelity, Sigyn. Goddess of Healing, Eir."

He looked at the Greeks, eyeing the blonde who yelled at him to the girl sitting on the banister and finally to the smallest of them.

"Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis. Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Goddess of Vegetation, Persephone."

He finally turned his gaze over to the Egyptians, first looking at the goddess and then to the god.

"Egyptian Goddess of the East, Iabet. Egyptian God of the Dead, Anubis."

Zeus finally turned to look at the eight gods who were standing with Yui, but didn't look at the human.

"Japanese Gods of the Sea and Moon, Susanoo and Tsukuyomi. Norse Gods of Light, Fire, and Thunder, Balder, Loki, Thor. Greek Gods of the Underworld, Fertility, and Sun, Hades, Dionysus, Apollon."

The ruler of the academy finally looked at the brown-eyed girl. She swallowed as her eyes locked with his.

"And, lastly," he introduced, "human, Kusanagi Yui." Zeus looked around the room again, "I have summoned you all here to learn about humanity and one another in order to restore the weakening bonds between the gods."

Artemis glared at the Greek God of the Heavens, "Like hell."

"I'm with blondie," Sigyn agreed bitterly.

The Greek Goddess raised her hand above her, and a flash of gold light formed in her palm becoming a bow and arrow. She pointed the arrow at Zeus, "Return us to our worlds."

"Or else…" The Norse girl trailed off, standing on the railing. She held out her arm, where it was encircled by a vicious wind.

"You'll pay," the two goddesses said in unison as the blonde let the arrow fly and the amber-eyed one jumped from the balcony, preparing to strike the almighty god.

Zeus didn't flinch at either assaults; he raised his scepter and slammed it into the ground, deflecting the attacks. The recoil that it sent back towards Artemis caused her to fall to the ground and Sigyn to be thrown right into her. The goddesses ignored one another, focusing on the one who called them to the school. He gave the two reprimanding looks, and the Greek pushed the Norse girl off of her, earning a glare from the auburn-haired goddess.

"As they have been told before," he addressed, pointing with his scepter towards the gods, "using your Divine Power indiscriminately will destroy this garden. Therefore…"

The golden-haired god raised his staff, and eighteen streams of golden light filled the room, each light landing differently on the gods and goddesses in the room.

Apollon's encircled his right ring finger, and when the light faded, the familiar peridot ring rested on his finger. Hades pulled at the collar of his shirt only to see a skull necklace with a garnet gem on it around his neck. Dionysus looked out of the corner of his eyes to see an Alexandrite earring hanging from his left ear, and Balder watched as a diamond cuff formed on his right ear. As the light faded, Thor reached up to his upper left arm and could feel the pyrite armband around it. Loki looked down as the same opal choker from last year wrapped around his throat; Takeru glared at the anklet with aquamarine gem as it formed around his left ankle. Tsukito pulled his jacket sleeve back, watching the amethyst bracelet materialize around his wrist. Anubis, though not particularly seen by the others stifled a surprised "Ka-bara-bara" when a pearl jackal navel piercing adorned his exposed stomach.

Persephone gasped in surprise as a silver chain with a rose quartz flower hanging from it settled around her neck. Artemis glared as a ring inlaid with a moonstone slipped onto her left ring finger. Aphrodite lifted her hand to her upper left arm and felt the solid metal of a bracelet locked around her arm beneath her blouse; she couldn't see the gem, but guessed aquamarine. From the second story Nanna watched as a single earring of crystal quartz dangled from her right ear when the light faded. Eir looked at her right hand, surprised, seeing an emerald finger ring bracelet encompass it. From the floor, Sigyn looked down in disbelief at the black choker with a topaz gem now tied around her neck. Kushinadahime scowled at the new garnet anklet on her right ankle. Ame-no-Uzume looked in surprise as the light faded to reveal a citrine bracelet around her left wrist. Iabet, from where she was standing, touched the white jade cartilage piercing now in n her right ear.

Yui watched as Apollon and Loki tentatively pulled at their shackles; they didn't come off. She looked back to where the goddesses were trying to take the new jewelry off. Artemis and Kushinadahime were pulling the most on their shackles.

"It's just like last time," Dionysus muttered.

"What is this?!" Sigyn exclaimed, more frightened than angry.

"Why won't it come off?!" The blonde Greek Goddess yelled, glaring at Zeus, "Old man!"

"Those shackles seal your divine powers," he stated calmly, yet there was a hint of cruelty in his tone. "No one can defy me here. Those shackles are proof. Just ask the gods who were here before."

Ame-no-Uzume looked calmly towards the eight gods, specifically at the Japanese boys, "Is it true, Tsukuyomi-sama, Susanoo-kun?"

"It is true, Ame-no-Uzume," Tsukito stated.

"Huh?" The Norse Goddess of Fidelity gaped.

"That's enough, old man!" Artemis glared, raising her hand to form a bow and arrow again. The pale gold light formed into a misshaped bow before flickering out. She looked at her hand in disbelief, "What's going on?"

Sigyn looked down at her hand, where the wind she'd summoned around her arm died out. She looked over at the Greek, "Same here."

Zeus continued to look at the goddess, ignoring those who had previously been there, "You _will_ study here. Once you've earned the right to graduate, your shackles will remove themselves. That goes for you, as well." He addressed the gods, and Yui looked down at her sword pendant, now understanding it was her own shackle, in a sense. The creator of the garden pointed his staff at an angle towards the ceiling, "Come!" A hole in the ceiling opened, and a familiar ornate glass ball lowered into the room, hanging on golden chains above the rest of the room, "Once all of you come to understand the human heart and have re-forged your bonds with one another, this container will be filled. You will have one year. If you cannot fill it within the year… I'm sure they can tell you." He smirked towards Yui and her friends.

"Yui!" Nanna called from the second story, "What will happen if we can't do it?"

The brown-eyed girl swallowed, looking up at the Norse Goddess, who looked at her earnestly, "If we can't fill it in a year, we'll all be trapped here. Forever..."

The jade-eyed girl's eyes widened in horror, "No…"

Eir looked at Zeus in a panic, "Is that true?!"

"You can't do this!" Kushinadahime yelled.

"Zeus, that's too harsh!" Persephone chimed in, her voice laced with worry.

"I did not tolerate protests before," he answered harshly, "and I will not do so this time. Thoth..."

Everyone's eyes turned towards the doorway near the staircase as the familiar white-haired Egyptian God of Knowledge stepped out for everyone to see. His blue eyes were still stern as ever, and his arms were crossed over his chest. Thoth looked intimidatingly out through his monocle at the goddesses, most of whom, shrank back from his fierce gaze. He scanned the rest of the room, looking at the original eight gods he taught along with Yui. The human girl could have sworn she saw her sensei smirk at her slightly in a way that almost seemed endearing. Thoth looked towards the Greek God of the Heavens', giving a slight nod. As if giving approval for something.

"Seshat…" The golden-haired god called out.

The violet-haired girl blinked and looked towards the doorway again as she heard the distinct sound of footsteps. They sounded like each step was calculated and from a pair of boots. Yui's eyes widened when she watched a woman with the same dark skin as Thoth and the other Egyptian gods step out and stood beside the God of Knowledge. She stood at the same height as the god beside her, but the Japanese girl could see she was just barely shorter with the height difference being made up for with a pair of calf-high black leather stiletto boots that complimented her well-developed figure. She wore a long, straight black skirt that when down to her knees, but had a high slit on her right. She had on a light blue tunic with a collar that scooped below her collarbones and dipped to form a small "V" in the middle; the sleeves ended just past her elbows.

The Egyptian goddess had three gold bangles with sapphires and rubies embedded throughout on each wrist. She kept her arms crossed over her chest in a similar manner to Thoth, and she had a pair of reading glasses on a chain around her neck. Her dark brunette hair was tied up in a high, flawless bun; she had two straight pieces of hair framing her face. She had piercing indigo-colored eyes with the traditional Egyptian makeup around her eyes. She was a very beautiful goddess. Yui felt intimidated by her. But she seemed a little more approachable than her previous teacher.

"This man," Zeus commented, "and this woman shall be your instructors."

The white-haired god looked only at the goddesses, not feeling the need to address the students he had previously taught, "I am the Egyptian God of Knowledge, Thoth."

The woman beside him looked around at all of the students, "And I am Seshat. Egyptian _Goddess_ of Knowledge." Her eyes rested on Yui, "I look forward to teaching you."

"Your classmates will be…" Zeus trailed off slightly, raising his scepter again and soon the room and entire garden was filled with small orbs of gold light. After a few seconds of floating in the air, the specs of light formed into male and female teenage humans, all wearing the school uniform, "These many spirits."

Persephone looked around the room, astonished, "So many at once… Wow…"

"Kusanagi Yui," the Greek God of the Heavens' voice resounded.

"Yes!" The violet-haired girl responded, snapping from her daze at seeing the spirits again. Her brown eyes met Zeus's again.

"Once again, your responsibility is to lead the gods to graduation," he informed, though she already knew this. "Is that clear?"

Yui stayed silent, still unsure of being able to handle twice as many gods.

"Tomorrow morning," Seshat called, causing everyone to look at her.

"You will gather in the auditorium to prepare for tomorrow's afternoon entrance ceremony," Thoth finished. "That is all."

"You are dismissed for the day," the Egyptian Goddess added. She looked at the human girl, "Kusanagi…"

"Come with us," the white-haired teacher instructed.

"Y-Yes," she replied, starting to follow.

Thor grabbed her arm before she stepped away, "Kusanagi, meet us in the Student Council Room later."

Yui furrowed her brow, not completely positive why he was requesting she meet with them, but she nodded.

"Kusanagi!" Thoth and Seshat called again.

"Right!" She exclaimed, hurrying after her teachers.

The Japanese human walked behind the two Egyptian Gods of Knowledge, wondering why exactly they wanted to speak to her. She noted that the sun was starting to set as they walked through the halls. Everything was so reminiscent of her first day. She watched her teachers as they walked silently in front of her. It was almost strange how in sync they were with each other with how they finished each other's sentences and walked perfectly in step. It was almost as if they were made for each other. They even walked with their arms crossed over their chests the same way. Yui listened as Thoth told her how the academy was modeled after the original and that it had taken Zeus months to get it back to the way it was exactly. Seshat informed her of all the amenities the school offered. All facilities were provided again. There was food in the cafeteria. The school store could provide anything she desired.

The brown-eyed girl tried to only half-listen, already aware of the facts. She didn't say anything about being brought there so suddenly and if her family was worried and whether or not Zeus was being too willful, even for a god. The Egyptian god had explained it all before. Once everyone graduated, she would return to the time she came from through the power of Chronos, God of Time. And that the Sword of Heaven's Gathering Clouds around her neck would eventually guide her, and that she needed to take good care of it. The violet-haired girl didn't feel like getting slammed into a wall and having her personal space invaded that day; she felt exhausted from everything that happened.

"Also," the Egyptian woman was saying, snapping Yui from her thoughts, "Iabet will be acting as a translator for Anubis."

She stared at the gods who kept walking in front of her, confused, "'Translator'?"

"Anubis is a shy god," Thoth explained. "As such, until you and the others can come to understand him, he can only speak in words only Egyptian Gods can understand."

"Therefore," Seshat continued, her voice a little lighter than before, "Iabet will be translating for him when he speaks to the others."

"This way, he will be more comfortable attending classes this time," the other god said.

"'This…time'?" The Japanese girl asked, "Thoth-sama, was Anubis-san here before?"

"Yes, but he didn't attend the classes everyone else did," he informed. He looked back at her and smirked, "Who did you think caused _Cinderella_ to go awry?"

Yui's eyes widened, "He's the one?!"

She took Thoth's smirk for her answer. She never would have thought that a god who seemed as shy as Anubis could wreak such havoc onstage in the middle of the play. Then again, Loki had caused a fair share of trouble for the performance, and Dionysus wasn't entirely blameless either. The human girl continued to follow her teachers as they led her towards the dorms. She could see lights on in both the men and women's dorms as the two gods reminded her that the women's dorms were to the right and men's to the left.

"Kusanagi, one more thing," Seshat said as she and the other Egyptian God stopped in front of the human girl's room.

"Yes, Seshat-sensei?" The girl inquired.

"Seshat-sama, if you please," the woman requested politely, but sternly.

"Yes, Seshat-sama?" Yui corrected herself.

"Just so you know, Thoth will be instructing the gods and goddesses about humanity more than I will be," the goddess told her. "And I will be teaching what would normally be taught in a human school, such as math and literature, more than Thoth will be."

The violet-haired girl tilted her head, slightly intrigued, "Oh, really?" The woman nodded, and the human girl gave another nod in return, "All right."

"We'll be in the academy's library," Thoth added, starting to walk away. "If you need anything, come find one of us."

"Farewell," Seshat told her, starting to follow the Egyptian man's lead. "All is up to you now…"

"Huh?" Yui asked, unsure what her sensei's cryptic message meant, but she didn't get an answer as both Egyptian Gods of Knowledge left her. She shrugged it off and went into her dorm, the lights automatically turning on. She looked around and smiled a little, "It's exactly the same…"

"Kutanagi!"

The brown-eyed girl looked around for the owner of the familiar male voice as a small yellow and white ragdoll jumped on to her, hugging her and nuzzling her face affectionately. She laughed, excited, "Melissa!"

She hugged the little doll back, glad to see him again. During the first year there, her self-proclaimed guardian had been one of the greatest sources of comfort for her. She had been able to talk out or vent her problems to the mistakenly-made doll. He'd been able to help her smile more than once, too, and give her reassurance in some of her trials with the others. It was always nice to come back to her dorm to him, too. Especially when a day hadn't gone right. Melissa was always positive and knew what to tell the Japanese girl. He was a fun presence to be around, but he knew when he needed to be serious, like with what happened with God of Destruction.

Seeing Melissa seemed to make her nervousness ebb away a little more. He could be a great help in advice about what she should do for and with the goddesses. With his presence, just about everything from her first time in Zeus's garden was the same.

The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Everything was so similar, but very different, too. She thought about her day, being whisked away by Zeus, being assigned a task, and meeting everyone. Exactly the same as almost a year ago. But this time, she didn't start out in the garden not knowing anyone. The gods and Melissa were with her. They would be able to help her.

Her new task didn't feel as heavy on her shoulders. She didn't have to shoulder all of the responsibility herself. Her friends would help her in teaching the goddesses, and both the gods and goddesses needed to help each other in strengthening their bonds. Yui would help them along, but she didn't have to be the only one responsible for getting everyone to graduation. And Melissa could help her the same way he had last time; simply by being there and helping her work things out when needed.

Yui looked out of her window and smiled slightly, her head feeling clearer.

_Maybe, _she thought,_ this won't be as difficult as I thought…_

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**AnimeKiwi369:** So now we've been introduced to all the goddess. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and seeing the different goddesses, along with our favorite gods and heroine. For the next few chapters, I'll recap them and what they are goddess of, because there are so many. I will also give mini-profiles for the goddesses when their starring chapter comes up. For now, though, let's recap, shall we?

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**_Greek: _**

-Artemis~Goddess of the Hunt _(Yes, I know she's also the moon; that will come later.)_

-Persephone~Goddess of Vegetation

-Aphrodite~Goddess of Love _(But you probably already knew this.)_

**_Japanese:_**

Ame-no-Uzume~Goddess of the Dawn _(Don't worry; she'll get an easier name. Just not yet.)_

Kushinadahime~Earth Deity _(I have a difference between "God/Goddess" and "Earth Deity"; this will be explained later. Also, see above note.)_

_**Norse: **_

Nanna~Goddess of Joy

Sigyn~Goddess of Fidelity (_Just for reference, air/wind is associated with her, so that's where the wind when she tried to attack Zeus came from.)_

Eir~Goddess of Healing

_**Egyptian:**_

Iabet~Goddess of the East _(Also the cleanser of Ra.)_

Seshat~Goddess of Knowledge _(I hope you can all see where that's going.)_

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** Anyway, I don't have much more to talk to you lovely readers about. You guys can probably guess the pairings by now if you haven't already. **;**) So, until next week! Please be kind and please review! _Valete, omnes! _**:**3


	7. Chapter 6: Strained Relations

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Kiwi-chan omnibus salutem plurimam dicit!_ Kiwi-chan is experiencing several emotions right now, and it has sent her into talking about herself in the third person. Kiwi-chan will keep this short.

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFiction Members for Reviewing:_ **ilovefonandalaude** and **LilweenGalatrass**.

No anonymies this week. Kiwi-chan wishes to give a special shout out to **LilweenGalatrass** for reviewing when Kiwi-chan asked.

Kiwi-chan does not own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_, nor does she own the characters. Kiwi-chan, however, owns the plot and half-owns her "OCs", as they are based off mythology.

_Gustate fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 6: Strained Relations

After talking with Melissa for a while about her feelings on the situation, Yui silently made her way over to the Student Council Room, per Thor's and everyone's request. She still wasn't completely sure why they wanted to talk. The only thing she could chalk it up to was to discuss the current situation and the relationships they had with the goddesses. It was the most obvious answer she could think of. She did wish, though, that the discussion could wait. She was exhausted, and there was another long day ahead of her. Between setting up for the entrance ceremony and getting the goddesses to participate. And possibly some of the gods.

She knew them well enough but now that a few of them weren't fond of being told what to do. The brown-eyed girl couldn't shake the feeling that at least a couple of them would rebel and refuse to participate because they didn't want to be trapped in Zeus's garden again. She could understand why. The human girl still wasn't super thrilled with this repeated situation because of how her life had been going. However, she had decided to accept this again. It would be simple enough. Also, now that she had the memories of her mistakes in the garden, she could fix them. This time might go smoother, because she could draw on her memories of last year to help her and everyone through.

As Yui made her way towards the Student Council Room, she found herself thinking about one of the last times she was in the garden. She smiled at the fun memories she had created with everyone, like studying for midterm exams. She tried to remember the last time everyone was gathered together in the Student Council Room before the play. She thought it was the study session. Only for everyone to completely forget about the exams when Apollon when through his Cassandra ordeal.

Yet, they still did relatively well enough to earn the reward of putting on the play. The violet-haired girl still couldn't believe that Anubis had been the source of all that craziness. Well, the craziness that happened while Loki tried carrying out his coup d'état. Then again, being only allowed three days to prepare was insane in itself. That first day when everyone argued about who would be prince should have been her first clue that things were going to have disastrous results. Thinking about how all of them wanted to be the character opposite her almost made her want to blush. Did they all see her in that kind of light?

Yui shook the idea off, not wanting to get another headache from the subject of love. Even if she _did_ love all of them. The brown-eyed girl tried to will away her thoughts about it, but only found herself drawn back in. Apollon had given her a confession of love before. …Twice… And Loki did kiss her when she came to help him get through to Balder. Even if it was only on the forehead, it was more than just a friendly kiss. The violet-haired girl knew that the gods loved her. Were in love with her to some extent or another. That she was special to all of them.

She felt the same about all of them, but was she _in love_ with any of them? The human girl stopped in her tracks and placed a hand over her heart. Part of her said that "yes" she was in love with all of them, but the other part said that "not exactly". If part of Zeus's plans this time was for the gods to find love, would she be able to choose without feeling horribly guilty about letting the others down? Could she choose? At this point in time she didn't think so. They were all just too wonderful to choose from; each god had his own set of pros and cons and unique personality.

The Japanese girl couldn't help but wonder if she shouldn't try to get some of the others to fall for their fellow goddesses, even if it wasn't a part of the Greek God of the Heavens' plan. She made a mental note to think about making that her own secret mission while they were there as she finished making her way to her rendezvous with her friends. Yui quietly walked into the large Student Council Room where they had spent their time studying together for midterms and where she, Apollon, Tsukito, Balder, and Dionysus had planned school events, like the seaside school.

All the guys were waiting in there, silent. Each god seemed to be in his own little world. Both the Japanese Gods were sitting by the small coffee table. Tsukito's expression was relatively blank as he sat on his knees, but she knew by now that he wasn't as bored as he appeared to be as he held Usamaro in his arms. Takeru had his legs crossed and had one of his elbows resting on his knees, his face resting in his hand; he looked irritated and was pouting slightly. Loki sat on the coffee table, twirling his hair between his fingers, a concerned look replacing his normally mischievous expression. Dionysus rested in a chair closest to the red-haired Norse God. He didn't look overly concerned, but his face read a little more bored than usual.

Thor stood behind the Greek, his arms crossed over his chest, his normal serious expression present. Hades sat on the couch, his arms also over his chest. While he did look concerned, he looked like he was deep in thought. Most likely about his brother summoning him once more to the tabletop garden. Balder was next to him, near Dionysus, his left elbow resting on the armrest of the couch, his hand under his chin. The blue-eyed god looked towards the wall, his face a mixture of concern and endearment, as if he was reminiscing about something. Apollon sat off to his uncle's right, in a chair that was across from Dionysus. He still had that worried and nervous expression from earlier, and Yui couldn't help but worry a little. It was strange to see such a disposition in the blonde god.

The brown-eyed human watched the gods closely as she came closer to them. They didn't look up as she entered, too engrossed in their thoughts. She sat down in front of the coffee table, waiting for someone to break the stony silence. She didn't think she had ever seen all of her friends in such unrest all at once before. After several minutes of no discussion, it was clear she was going to have start things off.

Yui cleared her throat a little to get their attention, "You guys wanted to talk about something?"

"We thought it might be a good idea to tell you of the relationships we have previously had with the goddesses, Kusanagi Yui," Tsukito spoke up, looking over at her.

"I figured about that much," she responded with a faint smile, trying to lighten the tense mood any way she could. "I have to admit, I'm curious as to how you know them and what they're like."

She looked around the room, hoping one of them would start off. None looked too eager. Just when she thought she was going to have to choose one of them, Takeru spoke up.

"Ame-no-Uzume grew up with us," he told her. He scowled a little, "And our older brother, Akira."

She stared at him a little startled. The two of them hadn't mentioned they had another brother before. She stayed silent for either him or his brother to continue.

"She's closer with Akira," the blue-haired god continued.

"As goddess of the Dawn, she has had to work closely with our brother, Amaterasu-Omikami, God of the Sun," Tsukito told her.

Takeru let out a frustrated sigh, "At least she isn't completely like Akira."

"What do you mean by that, Takeru-san?" Yui asked, confused.

"Akira is always harsh on Ani and dotes on me," he said. "But Uzume is the exact opposite. She's _always_ had a soft spot for Ani and been at odds with me."

"I see," she responded, putting her hand on her chin. "So that must be the relationship you have to mend."

Tsukito merely shrugged, while his younger brother sighed again, looking away.

"What about with Kushinadahime-san?" She asked.

"Totsuka Takeru once saved her from an eight-headed serpent," the lavender-haired god commented.

"That was when were much younger, and I doubt she even remembers who I am," his brother retorted. "She doesn't seem like she wants to even look at us gods."

Yui scowled, "So you think that getting her to remember you and become friends with you is the bond she's missing?"

Takeru shrugged, "Who knows? Let someone else talk, Weed."

She frowned a little at his tone, but looked around to see if anyone else wanted to talk about the goddesses.

"Well," Dionysus started, looking from her to Apollon, "Aphrodite is our half-sister." That made sense to the violet-haired girl. She had the exact shade of green eyes the blonde and red-haired Greek Gods had. She looked softly at the Greek brothers as the wine-loving god continued, "Artemis is one of our sisters, as well."

"It should fun to have your sisters here, even if Artemis-san doesn't want to participate," she commented, but the green-eyed blonde only frowned.

"It would be Kusanagi-san," the God of Fertility replied. "However…"

"Arte-Arte hates me," Apollon sighed. "She hates me, Yousei-san."

Yui's eyes widened, "Surely that's not true, Apollon-san."

"She can't simply just hate you, Agana Belea," Balder said.

"You had to have done something to make her angry at you, A-fool-on," Loki added looking back at them.

"So what did you do?" Takeru asked.

The blonde shook his head, "We haven't gotten along for a long time. I don't even know what I did. I don't know."

"Both Artemis and Apollon were inseparable when they were younger," Hades told her. "But Apollon is right. Despite being twins, Artemis doesn't want anything to do with him now."

"Apollon-san!" The violet-haired girl exclaimed, surprised, "You and Artemis-san are twins?!"

The God of the Sun gave a slight smile, "Yes, we are. Arte-Arte and I are twins."

"She's the older one, though," Dionysus added.

"They're also one of the few siblings who are fully blood related," Hades put in. "Artemis and Apollon's mother is different from Dionysus or Aphrodite's mothers."

"All…right," she responded slowly. It was strange for her to think that Zeus could have so many different wives. Then again, they were from another country. Greek Gods had a different culture.

"Artemis doesn't just hate me, though," Apollon said with another sigh. "She doesn't hate me alone."

"Huh?"

"While Artemis doesn't want anything to do with Apollon," the blonde's half-brother told her, "she doesn't want anything to do with the rest of us, either."

"She just stopped speaking to all of us one day," their uncle put in. "And since she mostly resides in among the humans and in the forest, it's only helped her to distance herself from us."

"I've tried to get close to her again," The blonde Greek commented, "but she won't let me. She won't let me."

"So that's why she was brought here," Yui said. "Because she has no bond with you anymore." She watched the three of them nod. Tentatively, she asked, "Aphrodite-san and Persephone-chan are different, though?"

Apollon's face lit up a little, "Di-Di is easy to get along with. She's easy to be around."

"I'm honestly not sure why Zeus would bring her here, Kusanagi-san," Dionysus told her with a shrug. He smiled softly, "But Apollon is right." He winked playfully, "She's kind of like me."

"Persephone is different, though," Hades commented.

The brown-eyed girl tilted her head, "How so, Hades-san?"

"For one, she's not related to us," he answered. "Her mother, Demeter, watched over many of us as we grew up, so she's like a sister to me and Zeus. But she's very strict and overprotective towards Persephone, and Demeter doesn't like how Persephone is so curious on everything. Especially about the Underworld."

Yui looked down, "So that's what she meant when she said she didn't have to be worried about getting in trouble."

"Persephone doesn't really know us all that well either, Yousei-san," Apollon said.

"You're saying she doesn't really have her own bonds with the other Greek Gods?" The girl questioned.

"I think the only one she actually knows relatively well is Aphrodite," Dionysus told her.

"That must be why Zeus brought her here. It must be," the blonde continued, slightly excited.

Yui nodded, silent for a minute, letting the new information about the Greeks set in, "Okay. I think I get why they were brought here." She looked at the Norse Gods, "What about Nanna-san and the other Norse Goddesses?"

"Like with Totsuka-san and Takeru-san," Balder started, "they grew up with us."

"More like around us," Loki said.

The human girl furrowed her brow, "There must be more than that, Loki-san."

"There is," Thor replied. "He's doesn't want to say it."

"Say what?" Yui prodded.

"Eir wants to kill him," The blue-eyed god told her, though his light tone didn't match his words.

Her eyes widened again, "What?!"

"Loki has played one too many tricks on her," the turquoise-green-haired god added.

"She doesn't _actually_ want to kill me, koneko-chan," the redhead informed her with a casual grin. "She just likes to try and put me in a headlock whenever she sees me as payback for what I did to her when we were kids."

The violet-haired girl was still skeptical, "What exactly did you do to her, Loki-san?"

"Just a few pranks," he said, that familiar catlike grin on his lips.

"He also never listened to her about taking care of himself," Balder put in. "She's the Goddess of Healing and knows the best way to treat wounds."

"Loki would brush her off and not listen to her. Or let her try to treat him," Thor finished his friend's thought.

"So whenever he doesn't listen, she tries to put him in a headlock," the blonde Norse boy continued.

"Eir's yet to get me in one, though," Loki grinned at her again.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "Loki-san." She looked back at them, "You're who she needs to strengthen her bond with."

"I'm not the only one," he retorted, looking at his fellow Norse Gods.

Balder chuckled, "At least Thor and I are on better terms with her than you are, Loki."

"Is there anything else I should know about Eir-san or Nanna-san and Sigyn-san?" Yui asked.

"Nanna's father is good friends with my mother," the blonde Norse boy told her. "We saw each other more often than Loki says. Also…" His demeanor dropped slightly, and he sighed, "Don't tell her I told you this, Yui-san, or any of you." He looked around at his friends, "But it might be important later."

"What is it, Bal-Bal?" Apollon asked.

"Nanna's mother died during childbirth," Thor informed them.

The Japanese girl frowned a little, feeling bad about the Norse girl's situation. If Nanna had never had a motherly figure around, then she was missing a critical bond in her life. That might have affected her ability to form certain connections with some of her fellow gods.

Yui bit her lip, "That's so sad." She looked at Balder, "Is there anything else, Balder-san?"

The God of Light shook his head, "I don't think so." He noticed the concerned look that still rested on the girl's face, and he offered a small smile, "Don't worry, Yui-san. Nanna doesn't dwell on it. She's doesn't let it affect her. And Sigyn's always watching out for her."

The brown-eyed girl nodded again, "All right." She stood up, "If that's all you guys wanted to tell me about the goddesses, I'll get going."

"Well…" Loki drawled, "There is something I may have forgotten to mention."

"Loki?" Balder inquired, "What else is there? We told Yui-san everything she wanted to know."

"The thing is, Balder, I didn't," he told his friend. He looked away from everyone as he played with his hair again.

The violet-haired girl blinked at the God of Fire, "What didn't you mention, Loki-san?"

"Well…" He repeated, "I may or may not have promised Sigyn I'd marry her..."

"_What?!"_ Yui and all the other gods exclaimed.

"Oi, Loki," Thor said.

"You never said anything," the blue-eyed god commented, finishing up the other god's train of thought.

"Loki Laevatein, why would you propose marriage?" Tsukito asked, a slight inflection in his voice as he did so.

"What?" The blue-gray-eyed god asked, as if he did nothing wrong, "It's not as if I meant it. We were kids and half-asleep."

The brown-eyed girl gave an exasperated sigh and put her head in her hand, "Loki-san, you know that could be why she's here, don't you? That you might be the one she's lost her connection to?"

The redhead grinned, "I doubt she even remembers. She was almost asleep when I said that. And, Kusanagi, have you already forgotten?"

She blinked, confused again, "Forgotten what?"

Loki leaned his head back to the human girl and grinned at her, winking, "I _am_ a huge liar, you know?"

"Loki-san!" Yui exclaimed, earning a loud laugh from the Norse boy.

"Loki, that wasn't very funny," Balder commented.

The Japanese girl sighed again and looked at the others as she started to walk towards the door, "If that's it, I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Kusanagi, about that," Thor stopped her. "You might not."

"Thor-san, what do you mean?" She inquired, "Is it about this situation?"

Hades answered for him, "Yes."

"About being back here, Weed…" Takeru trailed off.

"It sucks," Loki stated bluntly.

Yui felt her demeanor drop, and she suddenly felt overwhelming exhaustion. She knew this had been coming, but she hadn't wanted to believe it just yet. She didn't want to _deal with _this just yet. The brown-eyed girl looked blankly at them and gave a forced smile. She felt like she might snap any minute. Even if it was _only_ their first day back in Zeus's garden, she had come to accept this. She had come to like the idea of spending another year in the garden. Why couldn't they just accept it, too? Didn't they know these would be their last precious months together? If they did, this wouldn't be as hard on her… Now she was going to have to work even harder to get them back into classes.

"You don't want to be here," she stated, her voice devoid of emotion. She looked down, taking a few steps back. She could feel her lips tremble and frustrated tears in her eyes. The entire day and the whirlwind of emotions she had had throughout the day came crashing down on her.

"Yousei-san?" Apollon asked, sensing something wrong.

Yui opened her mouth to lie and say she was fine, but she closed it. She didn't trust herself to speak anymore. She hated feeling like this. Letting her emotions catch up to her. She tried to convince herself that she was just tired. This was nothing more than exhaustion, and it was controlling how she felt. And her fears about having to convince her friends to return to school becoming reality was the trigger.

"Kusanagi Yui?" Tsukito inquired when she stayed silent.

She didn't answer; she just took another step back. Yui couldn't bring herself to look at them. Not when she felt like this. She didn't want them to know how frustrated she was. With this situation. With everything. Even if she _had_ come to terms with this new scenario. She was still frustrated. She was only human after all.

"What's wrong, Yui-san?" Balder questioned as the Japanese girl continued to back out of the room.

The brown-eyed girl shook her head, biting her lip. She didn't want to face them right now. She needed to calm down before she could. She needed to clear her head. This day had been too long. She had received too much information. She just wanted to rest.

Yui stole one last glance at the gods before she turned on her heels and ran from the Student Council Room back to her dorm.

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** _*Sigh*_. Sorry for that earlier. I needed to be a little childish to let off some frustration. I was sad that the last chapter only got two reviews, but I understand that you guys are probably just very busy. The fact I didn't get my tea in the boxes they come in and that the internet connection decided to crash sent me to talk in the third person. But I'm okay now. ^^"

So, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. We got some incite into how the gods know the goddesses! Poor Yui, though! **:**( Oh, I decided to have Persephone not be related to others to avoid weirdness in the future. So, that deviates from mythology, and I apologize for anyone that's bothered by that. There will be a one or two other deviations, as well.

I hope we all have the goddesses down by now. In case you don't, here they are again:

* * *

**_Greek:_**

-Artemis~Goddess of the Hunt _  
_

-Persephone~Goddess of Vegetation

-Aphrodite~Goddess of Love _  
_

**_Japanese:_**

Ame-no-Uzume~Goddess of the Dawn _  
_

Kushinadahime~Earth Deity _  
_

_**Norse:**_

Nanna~Goddess of Joy

Sigyn~Goddess of Fidelity _  
_

Eir~Goddess of Healing

_**Egyptian:**_

Iabet~Goddess of the East _  
_

Seshat~Goddess of Knowledge

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** Anyway, I hope you're all anxious for the next chapter! Until next time! Please be kind and please review! _Valete! _**:**3


	8. Chapter 7: Another Rocky Start

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salvete olim iterum, omnes!_ Well, it's that time of week again for another chapter. And I'm happy to report that the last chapter currently holds the most reviews thus far, so that made me incredibly happy! So thank you so much, though I was hoping that someone would comment on Loki saying that he proposed to Sigyn when they were kids... Ah, well, I got reviews, so I was happy. **:**)

_Thanks Go To The Following FanFiction Members For Reviewing:_ **ilovefonandalaude**, **Inkwolf17**, **LilweenGalatrass**, **Lovely Yaoiness**, and **JenelleLucia**.

_Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **Soleil**, **Alondraa**, and **Arty**

I don't own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_. If I did, I wouldn't use an infinitive in the second part of the title... I do own, however, the plot, and I half-own my 'OCs', since I've based them off mythology.

_Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 7: Another Rocky Start

Yui hugged one of the pillows to her chest, facing the wall as she lied on her bed. She'd managed to stem her frustrated tears for a while now and was trying to keep her mind focused on the possible positivity of being back in the garden. Melissa had tried to lift her spirits by reassuring her that the gods would come terms soon and would probably turn their thoughts around once they knew they made her cry. The little ragdoll had also told her that until the gods came around, she could focus on getting to know the goddesses and have some girl-bonding time with them. The thought did make the Japanese girl feel a little better about everything, but she couldn't help but feel a little disappointment at both her friends and herself. Mostly at herself for letting her emotions run wild. She wasn't the only one frustrated.

The gods were, too. That was why some, if not all, of them didn't want to be back under Zeus's control. They had only spoken their minds. They were only being human. It was a natural reaction for them to be displeased about being back. Yui still hoped that they would reconsider their views about being in the academy. And soon...

The brown-eyed girl sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day. She closed her eyes, deciding to try and push the thought of her friends to the back of her mind. She thought about each goddess she had met, plus Anubis, and focused on solidifying the names and what they were goddess of with each face and their possible reasons for being called to the garden other than to fix their bonds.

Persephone was the first to come to her mind. The small, burgundy-haired Greek Goddess of Vegetation was very curious and energetic, and Yui didn't think she would have to worry about her too much. The younger-looking girl appeared to be perfectly fine with studying with others. Hades had said she lived a sheltered life and was chastised by her mother whenever she let her curiosity get the better of her. The blue-violet-eyed goddess needed to get to know her fellow gods and form the strong bonds she had been denied when she was growing up. The violet-haired girl couldn't help but wonder if there was another reason she was here; was it possible she _was_ a little _too_ curious? Maybe she needed to learn a little more caution? Persephone _did_ fall out a tree because she was curious as to what the garden was like.

Artemis was the second to come to her mind. Apollon's older twin sister. Who didn't seem to like being with her fellow gods. Yui wanted to know what had caused her to break her ties with those around her. Why she started despising her twin. Which was an obvious reason that Zeus summoned her. Did the blonde goddess have a bad experience that affected her so much she didn't want anyone else to know? Was she dealing with her own grief that she was trying to cope with through isolation? Like how Apollon had grieved over Cassandra by letting it bottle up and believe he could never be happy? The Japanese girl knew Artemis would be one of the most difficult goddesses to get to participate in school, but she had a feeling the Goddess of the Hunt was more like her practically identical twin than she wanted to admit.

Her thoughts turned towards the auburn-haired Norse Goddess of Fidelity known as Sigyn. Yui wasn't sure why she started thinking about her, but guessed it was her similarities to Loki that intrigued her. The mannerisms were so close, it was almost bizarre. The violet-haired girl couldn't believe the Norse God of Fire played such a trick on her, saying he had proposed to the amber-eyed goddess when they were younger. If it even _was_ a joke. The human representative thought that if the characteristics between Loki and Sigyn were more than just coincidences, then the reasons for the goddess being brought to Zeus's school would also be similar, as well. Besides the fact that she had to reconnect with the others. They could have been other reasons, though. Like maybe with her duties as a goddess. She wouldn't know until she got to know her, though.

Thinking of the first Norse girl made Yui's change her focus to Nanna. Goddess of Joy. From the few minutes she had spent with the blonde, she was friendly and easy to be around. She wondered if it had to do with the fact she was the Goddess of Joy and that it was an unconscious effect she had on people. If that were that were the case, did that mean she was similar to Balder? Were people drawn to her the way God of Light drew others to him? Was Nanna a goddess that didn't experience true love by those who followed her, but because they surrounded her to feel joy? The brown-eyed girl felt a little worried as she thought about that, unable to help thinking the sweet girl harbored a dark side, just as Balder had. It _would_ explain why the Norse girl was there.

Yui shook her head, trying to will away those thoughts; she could have just been overreacting because of the similarities from the first time at the academy. Surely things weren't going to play out the same way? Besides, the goddesses were brought to strengthen both their ties to their fellow gods and humanity. The brown-eyed girl wasn't sure which gods Nanna might need to reconnect with or how the ties had been damaged.

Trying to forget the previous idea of the Norse Goddess having some sort of dark power hidden within her, the Japanese girl started to think about the two goddesses from her country of origin. The one who knew the Totsuka brothers came to the front of her mind. Ame-no-Uzume, Goddess of the Dawn. The mint-haired girl was a bit odd. That was only word Yui could describe her with. When she had seen her in the garden with Takeru and Tsukito, she had been lively, with the way she was arguing with the former. However, she didn't seem too interested in anything when Zeus summoned them. She could have just been trying to stay calm in the bizarre situation she had been put in, though. As hard as Yui tried, the only thing she could come up with for being brought here was to improve her relationship with Tsukuyomi and Susanoo, specifically the latter, who she didn't appear to get along with.

Kushinadahime, she knew, was going to be as difficult as Artemis in getting her to be a part of anything. She was one of the goddesses who didn't want to be there for anything. A thought came to the violet-haired girl as she continued to speculate about the aquamarine-haired girl. Zeus had called her an Earthly Deity. Was that different from a goddess? And did that make her of lesser power and influence than someone like Ame-no-Uzume? If that was the case, Yui thought she might have figured out why she was there. If Kushinadahime wasn't _exactly_ a goddess per se, then she didn't have _any_ kind of personal connection with them. So she really need to form bonds with them. In a way, it was similar to Persephone, however, she was different in that she didn't seem to want to be anywhere near the others. And getting her to associate with them was going to the human girl's first step with the Earth Deity.

As hard as Yui tried to come up with an idea for why Eir might be there with the other two Norse Goddesses, no apparent ones came to mind. Other than the fact she didn't get along with Loki too much. That the only reason she could think of; that she was simply there to fix her relationship with the red-haired god. She was sure there was other reasons the Goddess of Healing might be there. There _had_ to be.

Aphrodite was another head-scratcher for the brown-eyed girl. As the Goddess of Love, the reddish-brunette should have had strong connections with the others. Maybe too much so? Yui didn't have any idea. She couldn't come up with anything again. At least Apollon would have another sibling there that he got along with. If she was as easy-going as Dionysus had described, she didn't think working with the Greek Goddess would be as difficult as some of the others.

Yui felt her eyelids getting heavy as her thoughts finally turned to the Egyptians. Those two were a complete mystery, and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous about Iabet. The Egyptian Goddess had given off such an intimidating aura that she wasn't sure what to make of her exactly. Or why Iabet might be there, and if she would be a truant at first or not. The violet-haired girl wasn't sure about Anubis either, despite his apparently being in the garden before. All she knew about him was that he was a shy god, according to Master Thoth and Mistress Seshat. Other than those two details on the Egyptian Gods, though, Yui had nothing to go off of.

The human girl sighed, her eyes getting heavier. She yawned, turning onto her other side.

_I hope, _she thought, closing her eyes, _I can do this again…_

* * *

"There's even a hot spring?!" Persephone exclaimed pressed against the glass back doors of the dorm she now had to share with Artemis and Aphrodite. She turned back to the other two, "This place has everything!"

"Persephone," Aphrodite said from a seat at the small counter in the room, "you're not really going to attend this academy, are you?"

The burgundy-haired girl nodded, grinning, "I think studying as humans and getting to know everyone sounds like a lot of fun!"

The Greek Goddess of Love, sighed amused, shaking her head, "Of course you'd say something like that. It sounds like a lot of work to me, though." She looked over at Artemis, who was standing at the banister to the upstairs portion of their dorm, "Don't you agree, Artemis?"

The blonde girl huffed and turned away from her sister and the other girl, her arms crossed, "Sure does. And the further away I can be from that idiot, the better."

* * *

In the Japanese dorm, Kushinadahime sat childishly in a corner, trying to think of a way out of the garden, while Ame-no-Uzume sat on her knees around the short table in the middle of the room, flipping through the student handbook.

"I can't stay in this garden," the Earth Deity muttered. "Not with gods of all people."

"Why not just attend, so you can graduate?" The Goddess inquired, not looking up from the small book, "After all, there isn't any way out otherwise."

The aquamarine-haired girl spun around to face the mint-haired girl, but avoided eye-contact, "I _will _find a way out of here!"

* * *

"Guys, look at this!" Nanna called down from the balcony in the Norse girls' dorm. She was wearing a white, slightly transparent nightgown that ended at her mid-thigh with thin spaghetti straps holding it on her shoulders. She spun around a little, giggling, "I think this is what human girls wear when they sleep. Isn't it cute?"

From the first floor both Sigyn and Eir chuckled at their friend, the former sitting up on a table as the latter sat in a seat, examining the contents of an emergency first-aid she had found.

"She sure is fitting in, isn't she?" Sigyn commented, smiling up at her friend.

"Yeah," the brunette replied. She looked at the Fidelity Goddess from the corner of her eye and lowered her voice, "Even though we've been brought here to strengthen our bonds with the others and study humans, does that mean…"

The amber-eyed goddess shook her head once, sighing, "No. It doesn't. We still have to do what we must."

It was Eir's turn to sigh, "Is that so?"

* * *

Iabet paced back and forth in Seshat's office in the library, biting her thumbnail. Why was she brought there? It wasn't fair. Why was she chosen as the Egyptian Goddess who didn't understand humans and had no connections with the gods? Her connections with the Egyptians was plenty strong! She debated whether or not she was going to attend classes or not. If she did, she could get out of there sooner. If she didn't, she didn't really care what would happen, but Anubis wouldn't have anyone to translate for him if he attended classes. The gray-eyed goddess looked over at Seshat, who was sitting at her desk, reading over some ancient literature, preparing for the first class in two days.

"Do I really have to do this, Lady Seshat?" Iabet asked.

The Goddess of Knowledge didn't look up from the book, "Yes. Now go to bed."

* * *

"I hope Yousei-san is all right," Apollon said quietly as he, his half-brother, and their uncle sat around the table on the first floor of their dorm. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Kusanagi-san is strong," Dionysus commented. "She's probably just stressed."

The blonde looked at the God of the Underworld, "Uncle Hades, is there any way you'll change your mind about this whole thing?"

Hades looked at his nephew and sighed, "Perhaps."

* * *

"You think Kusanagi's okay, Ani?" Takeru asked, leaning back on his hands on the tatami mat.

Tsukito looked at his brother as he stroked Usamaro's fur and shook his head, "I do not know."

The blunette let out an exasperated sigh and sprawled out on the floor, staring at the ceiling, "We're really stuck here again, aren't we?"

"Yes," the God of the Moon replied, "we are."

"And there probably isn't a way out of here, huh?"

"We must graduate again, Totsuka Takeru."

* * *

"Do you think Yui-san will be okay?" Balder asked quietly, trailing behind Loki and Thor as the three walked up the stairs to their dorm rooms.

"Hard to say," the redhead replied, putting his arms behind his head. "Koneko-chan looked pretty upset."

"Yeah," the God of Thunder agreed.

"But if we just give her a few hours," Loki started, "she'll probably be fine in the morning."

The blonde nodded hesitantly, "I hope you're right, Loki."

* * *

Anubis was following Thoth around the library, pouting childishly, "Ka! Bara bara!"

"Yes, Anubis," the God of Knowledge said sternly, "you must attend classes this time."

"Ka!"

"No arguments," Thoth told him. "You'll attend classes, and that's final."

* * *

"I've made up my mind!" Yui exclaimed as she finished fixing her uniform and went over towards Melissa's small house.

The doll popped the lid up excitedly, looking at her, "Oh? What's up, Kutanagi?"

The Japanese girl let out a deep breath and smiled at her self-proclaimed guardian, "I've slept on it, and even though I'm still uncertain about everything that's going on again and I'm still a little stressed over things, I'm going to start by doing what I can. Just like last time. I know the only way out of here is to help everyone with their issues and understand humanity." She looked directly into the doll's dual-colored eyes, smiling, "Help me again, Melissa."

He gave her a thumbs up and closed his eyes, grinning widely as he nodded, "Leave it to me, Kutanagi!"

The brown-eyed girl nodded in return and quietly left her dorm, heading for the auditorium, memories of _Cinderella _surfacing to the front of her mind. As she came closer to the massive building that was to be used for their entrance ceremony, she started to think about how she thought she had arrived too early last year. Until Balder showed up followed Apollon and Tsukito. It had only been the four of them until the green-eyed god managed to convince Dionysus to help. Yui smiled at the memory, and how none of the gods knew what an entrance ceremony was like. She giggled to herself as she remembered how each had thought something horrible was going to happen. She still couldn't believe Tsukito had asked if they would need a sacrifice.

The violet-haired girl took another deep breath as she came to the doors of the auditorium. She entered into the large hall, expecting it to be completely devoid of any of the gods or goddesses. Yui blinked when she saw three figures around the stage. They didn't seem to be conversing, but all three looked up when their heard her footsteps.

"Yui!" Nanna called out, waving at her, giggling slightly as she sat on the stage, "Good morning!"

"Nanna-san!" The human girl responded, surprised to see them as she hurried over to the three goddesses, "Ame-no-Uzume-san! Persephone-chan! You all came to help set up?"

"Yep!" Persephone piped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet, as if she couldn't contain herself, "I was so excited I could hardly sleep."

"Well, this _is_ the start of our school lives," Ame-no-Uzume said matter-of-factly, looking up from the student handbook. "We shouldn't skip out. This is the only way to graduate. Isn't that right, Kusanagi-chan?"

Yui blinked at all three of them and then gave them a relieved look, "I didn't think anyone would show up."

"I've never been to a school before," the Norse girl commented with another giggle, "so I'm excited."

"I am, too!" The Greek exclaimed happily, "I haven't spent a lot of time with anyone other than Mama, so I can't wait." Persephone stopped bouncing and titled her head, "By the way, what exactly is an entrance ceremony? Ms. Seshat and Mr. Thoth mentioned it," she gave a guilty, embarrassed grin, "but I have no idea what it is."

The Japanese Goddess looked at the human girl, "I don't know either."

Nanna simply shook her head in agreement when Yui looked at her. The brown-eyed girl thought for a moment, trying to recall the way she had described the event to the guys.

She looked up at the ceiling, her hand under chin as she thought, "Well, it's where all the new students gather at the beginning of a school year and promise to work hard and study together. It's kind of like a celebration."

The Norse girl titled her head, "Is it like a contract ritual?"

"We won't be cursed is we don't obey, will we?!" Persephone asked, slightly panicked.

"Will a sacrifice be needed?" Ame-no-Uzume inquired.

"No!" Yui exclaimed, a bit unnerved by another wave of déjà vu. She tentatively looked at the Japanese Goddess to see if she was taking perfect notes; she _wasn't_. The violet-haired girl let out a sigh, gaining her composure again, and shook her head, "No. It's not like that."

"Oh, good," the burgundy-haired girl sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness," the Norse Goddess breathed, putting a hand on her chest.

"I was worried for a second, Kusanagi-chan," Ame-no-Uzume commented, looking at the human.

Nanna titled her head again, "What are those?" The other three turned to look at her, confused. She continued, "What are those names you keep adding at the end?"

Both Japanese girls looked at each other, taking a minute to understand what the blonde meant.

"Nanna?" Persephone inquired, "Are you talking about the 'san' and 'chan' thing?" The Norse girl nodded. The Greek looked at the other two, "I'm curious, too."

"All right," Yui responded, things making sense. "The terms 'san' and 'chan' are something called 'honorifics' we use in Japan."

"It's just a way to address someone," the goddess explained. "It's a way to show respect as well."

"Oh, I think I get it," the burgundy-haired girl commented.

The violet-haired girl looked at her and the blonde, "You don't have to use any, though, since you're from different countries."

The Norse girl thought it over for a moment but shook her head, smiling softly, "I think I want to use them, Yui_-san_."

Yui giggled, "All right, Nanna-san."

"Is there a word you would use to address someone older than you?" Persephone inquired, looking from each Japanese girl to the other.

"Older how?" Ame-no-Uzume responded.

"Maybe like an…upperclassman, maybe? That is a thing, right?" The Greek goddess questioned, confused on if she was getting anything about the whole school thing correct or not.

"Oh!" The brown-eyed girl replied, "You mean if I were in a grade ahead of you in a human school?"

The younger girl nodded fervently, "I think so."

"In that case, the term 'senpai' is usually applied," Yui explained.

"'Senpai'?" Persephone slowly pronounced, letting the foreign word linger on her tongue, "Is that right, Kusanagi_-senpai ?"_

She received an approving nod from the human representative. The blue-violet-eyed goddess looked at her with a mix of excitement and honor so much that Yui thought she might start crying.

"I don't think anyone else is showing up, Kusanagi-chan," The Goddess of the Dawn commented, looking towards the doorway.

"Huh?" The said girl looked back and frowned at the empty doorway, disappointed, "I was sure Apollon-san, Tsukito-san, Balder-san, and Dionysus-san would come at least." She sighed.

"So it's just us four?" Nanna clarified.

"No fair!" Persephone huffed, stomping the floor lightly, her hands on her hips, "Who do those gods think they are?"

"They've already been here," Ame-no-Uzume commented. "They may be more rebellious because they don't want to spend another year here."

"Still," Yui sighed, thinking, _I was hoping Apollon-san could convince the others. _She looked back towards the other four and then towards a clock that was in the room, "We still have a few minutes before we absolutely need to set up."

"We could go and try to convince the others!" The burgundy-haired goddess exclaimed, "Well, Kusanagi-senpai?"

The violet-haired girl looked at her and the other two and couldn't help but feel a little reassurance from the earnest looks they were giving her. She nodded, "Yeah, that's a great idea."

Nanna hopped down from the stage, "It would be more efficient if we split up, right?"

"We could cover more ground that way," the Japanese Goddess rationalized.

Yui smiled, a warm feeling sinking into her body. These three were so willing to help. The human girl felt more at ease, feeling like she could do this all over again. She nodded at them once more, "Yeah."

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** So it's not exactly like last time, as the three goddesses were there before Yui! But there are similiarities between the gods and goddesses. Especially the Norse... I'll say nothing more! Also, I hoped this chapter helped to solidify the different goddesses in everyone's minds at the beginning of the chapter. And as for the girls who did not appear to help Yui at the end, they will all be making appearances next chapter, but it'll be a couple chapters before the other guys show up again.

I may or may not slow my updates a little, because I'm running out of chapters, and, well, I haven't had much time to write. I did absolutely none of it this weekend. Okay, that's a lie. I did write a paper for English. I would have written, but I got distracted introducing my friend to anime.

...And now we can't stop quoting **_Hetalia..._**

It was a good weekend. She's also in love with **_Kamigami_ **and **_Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_**. So, yeah, that and homework was my weekend.

Until next time. Please be kind and please review! I can't wait to hear what you thought of the chapter, goddesses, and where the story is going! _Valete!_ **:**D


	9. Chapter 8: The Entrance Ceremony

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve!_ And sorry for the delay in updating. This little thing called life got in the way. Plus I had two midterms Tuesday and a quiz Wednesday that I prioritized over updating. Especially for my second midterm... I couldn't uncurl my hand for a good two minutes after it was over...

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFiction Members For Reviewing:_ **keller75863548274483**, **ilovefonandalaude**, and **LilweenGalatrass**.

_Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **Arty**

Anyway, I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum._** I do, however, own the plot and half-own my 'OCs' as they are based off of mythology.

_Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 8: The Entrance Ceremony

After splitting up and look for the others, Yui decided to check around the gardens and courtyard of the academy, hoping she wouldn't find Loki drawing on anyone's face again. If he did, Takeru be a possible target, if the Japanese God decided to take a nap outside, completely vulnerable to the trickster god. For some reason, the violet-haired girl didn't think the blue-haired boy would be the redhead's mark. Eir was a more likely candidate, given the fact the Norse God of First had played pranks on her in the past. And given his playful personality, Loki was likely to give the brunette-haired Norse girl more reasons to want to strangle him. The human representative hoped that she wouldn't see the two Nordic Gods fighting.

While Yui searched in the gardens, Persephone had decided she would go check out the dorms, including knocking on the door of each of the guys', to see if any of the others were holed up in their rooms. The brown-eyed girl hoped that the Greek girl didn't do any rash after she checked the dorms, like climbing up a tree again. Ame-no-Uzume had gone off the direction of the classrooms and library, and Nanna announced she would search the hallways and any other open spaces besides the courtyard. Yui still couldn't believe how much more at ease she felt now that she had support from the goddesses

at least. If the gods would support this new endeavor, the swordswoman thought that being in Zeus's academy would start to feel somewhat normal again.

Still, she felt better than the previous afternoon. Even though there were similarities between this time and last, being with the goddesses felt different than with the gods. As close as Yui had become with the guys', the relationship that she felt was forming with these girls wasn't the same. She didn't mind though. It felt like the kind of relationship she had with her girlfriends back home. The budding friendships felt like they would be closer than with the gods. She realized that with girls around, she could talk with them about certain subjects that she wasn't comfortable mentioning with her m

ale friends. Things like cramps, fashion, bra size, emotions, romance, etc. The human girl giggled to herself, seeing she now had girls to possibly gossip and do some kind of clothes swapping with.

The more she thought about the goddesses, the more she thought she wanted to come up with activities that would help them bond or just for fun. She thought about the fun that she and her friends back home had during sleepovers. Yui smiled at the thought. That would be fun once she got everyone to participate. Maybe that would be a good way to get the goddesses to wind down after a stressful time, like midterms. The Japanese girl sighed, thinking of the unexpectedness of the exams last time. She was prepared for there to be comprehensive tests six months in this time.

_So long as nothing gets in the way this time,_ she thought, chuckling awkwardly to herself. She looked around in time to see light aquamarine locks disappear down the stairs to the main gate. _Huh? That's Kushinadahime-san._

Yui ran towards the steps, hoping she'd catch up before the goddess was out of sight. Half-way down the stairs, she called out, "Kushinadahime-san, please wait!"

The Japanese Earth Deity stopped in her tracks, startled. She didn't expect anyone to follow her; she turned around to see the human representative at the so-called school for the gods coming down to flight of steps to meet her. She blinked, surprised, but then stared blankly at the violet-haired girl, "What do you need, Kusanagi-sama?"

"Please…" The brown-eyed girl started, panting, "Please attend the entrance ceremony with everyone else."

"No," the goddess said flatly.

"Why not?" Yui asked seriously.

Kushinadahime turned away from the human and did her best to act like she didn't care, "It's not as if I need to attend a school for the gods when I'm just an Earth Deity." Her demeanor tensed, "I'm finding a way out of here."

"But the only way out of here is to graduate," Yui told her quietly as she saw the girl's shoulders drop.

The other Japanese girl turned towards her, putting her hands together and bowing a little, her face hidden, "Please, Kusanagi-sama. Just leave me be."

The violet-haired girl opened her mouth to say something, but not before the goddess turned on her heels and ran away from her. She furrowed her brow as she watched the girl disappear from sight and sighed.

One attempt to coax a goddess: failed.

_So this is how's is going to be again…_ Her thought trailed off as she walked up the steps again, "I didn't think it would be easy, but still." She sighed again, "I was hoping dealing with girls would be easier than the guys!"

"Aww, why so down, Kusanagi?" A familiar playful feminine voice asked.

Yui looked up to see the Norse Goddess of Fidelity on the high wall that surrounded the academy, looking at her with a combination of playfulness and curiosity that created an oddly elegant air about her. The brown-eyed girl was slightly startled, "Sigyn-san!"

The auburn-haired girl giggled, her hand covering her mouth as she did so, "I'm so glad you remembered my name." She looked curiously at the human again, "Now, why do you seem dejected? Perhaps it had to do with that Japanese Deity?"

The violet-haired girl nodded as she made her way towards the Norse girl, "Yeah. Some of the other goddess and I are trying to convince everyone else to help with setting up for the entrance ceremony."

Sigyn twirled a lock of hair between her fingers, looking off in the distance, "That's right. Nanna said something about that earlier."

Yui looked earnestly at the amber-eyed goddess, "Sigyn-san, will you help us?"

The said girl hopped gracefully down from atop the high wall and stretched, putting her arms behind her head and turning away in a manner that reminded her of Loki. The Norse girl sighed, her arms dropping to her sides, "Sorry, Kusanagi. As much as I'd like to help Nanna and you out, I've never exactly played well with others besides Nanna and Eir."

"What about Balder-san and Loki-san and Thor-san?" She asked, "Didn't you grow up with them?"

"Sorry," the goddess repeated, turning back towards her, her eyes slightly hard. Sigyn sighed again as she walked past Yui, looking over her shoulder as she moved away, "But I won't be helping or attending."

Second attempt to convince a goddess: failure.

The Japanese girl put her head in her hand, wishing this were easier. But if it was, then Zeus wouldn't be testing her. At least these were slightly altered rejections; the goddesses were telling her they weren't going to help to her face. She walked around the grounds, looking for anyone else. Although she hadn't gotten Kushinadahime and Sigyn to help, there were still plenty of other gods and goddesses she might run into. And Persephone and the others were searching, too. They may have had better luck than her.

Yui heard the sound of something flying through the air as she walked past what was once Dionysus's garden towards the tennis courts. She looked ahead to see a target set up with an arrow sunk deep in the center of the bulls-eye. The Japanese human looked to who was practicing archery. Golden hair tied back into a side ponytail and emerald green eyes. Artemis. Apollon's older twin sister. She stayed quiet, watching as the Greek girl took another arrow from the quiver slung around her shoulders and lined it up in the bow. The blonde had neatly set her blazer aside, and there was a wrist guard on her left arm. The goddess had an intense focus in her eyes as she aimed the arrow.

The violet-haired girl thought she saw the Greek's lips move as she released the arrow. Her eyes widened as she watched the arrow bury itself dead center of the target. Splitting the previous arrow exactly down the middle. Yui felt mesmerized by the display of archery.

"Amazing!" She breathed, catching the blonde's attention; she didn't look too pleased to be interrupted. The human girl clapped lightly as she walked towards Artemis, "That was amazing, Artemis-san!"

The Greek's face flushed ever so slightly, but her composure didn't falter, "Thank you. It's Yui, right?"

"Yes," she answered.

The blonde took another arrow from the quiver, turning back to the target, "If you're here to try and get me to help set up for the entrance ceremony or whatever it's called, the answer's 'no'."

The brown-eyed girl blinked, "How did you…?"

"That Norse was already here," Artemis replied, lining the arrow up. "And the idiot was here before that."

"Apollon-san?" Yui clarified, surprised.

"That would be the one," the goddess commented, letting the arrow fly. It split the second one, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm kind of practicing."

The human representative reluctantly left the Greek, rejected for a third time.

Third attempt: failure.

Yui sighed. She almost felt like giving up. But she knew she couldn't. If she did, then she would be giving up on everyone else. And she wasn't about to do that. As long as some of the gods and/or goddesses were willing to help her, she needed to be willing to do everything in her power to get everyone to graduation. She thought about the others; they might have succeeded and were waiting back in the auditorium. The brown-eyed girl started heading back towards the building that would be used for the entrance ceremony. She looked at the flooring of the corridor, thinking of other ways get everyone to attend. Another seaside school might have to be in order if Zeus changed the seasons. Or maybe a camping trip.

"Yui-san!" She heard Nanna's voice call out, causing her to look up to see the blonde running towards her, half-expecting her to trip on nothing like Balder often did.

"Nanna-san, have you had any luck?" She asked when the Norse girl reached her.

The goddess shook her head, "No. Artemis brushed me off when I asked." She looked up with a bright smile, "But Thor said he'd think about it!"

"At least that's something," Yui commented.

Nanna laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head, "I'm not sure if he will or not. Despite growing up together, I've never been able to read him."

The Japanese girl smiled, "It's better than my luck. I've had flat-out rejections each time."

"Let's keep trying, Yui-san!" She exclaimed earnestly, taking her hands.

The violet-haired girl was taken aback a bit, but smiled, reassured by the goddess's enthusiasm. She nodded, "Yeah."

The two girls started heading towards the auditorium again in a pleasant silence until the jade-eyed goddess halted in her tracks and pointed at something. Yui stopped as well and looked at what her friend was interested at. She frowned as she looked into Dionysus's previous garden and saw something unfamiliar lying down in the dirt. The brown-eyed girl put a finger to her lips to signal the other girl to be quiet as they approached the unknown figure and crouched next to them. As they got closer, the swordswoman recognized it was Anubis, Egyptian God of Death. He was curled up like a cat in the sun, asleep.

Although she didn't want to disturb the tired god, if she didn't wake him, she thought Loki might come after him. And, since he was already a shy god, something like that might cause Anubis to shrink away from the task of graduation even more. Even if he didn't want to help with the entrance ceremony, the least Yui could do was spare the Egyptian boy from the redheaded trickster. She lightly tapped him on the shoulder, ignoring the confused look Nanna was giving her.

"Anubis-san," she whispered, "it's not a good idea to be sleeping out here. Anubis-san, please wake up. Anubis-san…"

The tufts of hair that looked like animal ears on the God of Death twitched, and his eyes blinked several times. He sat up and yawned, not noticing either the human or Norse Goddess. Anubis rubbed his eyes before realizing he wasn't alone. Surprise was more than present on his face. Just when Yui thought she might be able to talk with him, the Egyptian seemed to regain his senses and hissed at the two girls like an animal, causing them to fall back in surprise, before he ran off.

"Wha…What was that?" Nanna asked slightly frightened.

"I…have no idea," the Japanese girl commented, confused.

An unfamiliar chuckle caught the two's attention. Both the human and goddess looked up to see Iabet behind the wall of the garden, smirking at the two of them, "That was rather bold. Not even I try to awake a sleeping Anubis."

"I-Iabet-san," Yui said, still reeling a little from what had just happened with the other Egyptian.

"Does that happen often?!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Only if you try to wake him up," the brunette replied casually. "The fact that you're strangers doesn't help either."

The brown-eyed girl made a mental note to not try that again as she stood up and offered the Norse Goddess a hand.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Iabet questioned, a hand on her hip, her eyes sly, "Weren't you supposed to be setting up for an entrance ceremony?"

"Yeah," Yui answered, "but not many of us showed up. So we were trying to recruit the oth—"

"Iabet, will you help us?!" Nanna cut her off unintentionally as she looked imploringly at the Egyptian girl, "Please!"

"Uh… Nanna-san, you don't have to be—" She tried, before being interrupted again.

"Fine," Iabet answered.

Both the violet- and blonde-haired girls looked at each other and then to the brunette, "Huh?!" They exclaimed in unison.

"I said I'd help," the gray-eyed goddess repeated, smirking a little.

"_Really?!"_ Yui blinked in disbelief.

"Oh, thank you, I-a-bet!" Nanna told her in a half-singsong voice, sounding out each syllable of her name. She looked at the human representative, who was still in disbelief, and grabbed her hand again, "Come on. Let's get back to the others _with _Iabet, Yui-san!"

She snapped out of it at the sound of her name and nodded as they started making their way to the auditorium once more. With the Egyptian Goddess of the East. _With!_ The Japanese girl felt like she might burst with disbelief and excitement. They had at least one more person to help with entrance ceremony, and, with any luck, be participating in classes as well. She wasn't exactly sure how she was able to keep from crying out in triumph, though it was more the Norse girl's win, since she had actually requested help. Still, Yui smiled brightly to herself at the small victory.

_Maybe things _will_ be easier with girls around, _she thought to herself, silently giggling.

"Kusanagi-senpai!" A younger voice called out, breaking her thoughts as she, Nanna, and Iabet approached the auditorium. She looked ahead to see Persephone and Ame-no-Uzume with the other Greek Goddess, Aphrodite. The burgundy-haired girl waved with both arms as the other three reached them and smiled brightly, grabbing the other Greek's arm, "Look who I brought. This is Aphrodite. She's Greek, just like me."

The green-eyed goddess smiled softly at the rest of them, "Persephone insisted I help. It sounds boring to me, but I couldn't say 'no' to that cute face she was making." The brunette chuckled lightly.

"Thank you so much, Aphrodite-san," Yui bowed. She stood, looking at the other two and motioned to the Egyptian girl, who nodded, "This is Iabet-san. She's going to help, too."

"There isn't a lot of time left," Ame-no-Uzume commented. "The six of us will have to set up ourselves."

"Right!" The other girls nodded.

The violet-haired girl stepped ahead of the others and led them to the auditorium. She was glad there was at least one more person help this time. Still, she had been hoping to run into the guys and that they'd help.

_Now that I think about it,_ she thought, _I haven't seen any of them since last night. _

Yui shook it off as she walked through the doors to the large hall, her eyes on the floor. They were probably still as unsure as she was and weren't ready to face this new reality. She wished Apollon was there, though. She desperately wanted his bright smile and enthusiasm for everything to cheer her up more. She didn't realize it until then, but she hadn't seen that at all the previous day because of the circumstances. The violet-haired girl pushed the feelings to the back of her mind as she turned her attention towards setting up for the entrance ceremony.

She looked over her shoulder at the goddesses, smiling, "Let's start by getting this place cleaned up a little, then we can get the chairs. After that, we should decide who's going to do the pledge as student rep."

"Aww, I don't get to do it this time, Yousei-san?" A familiar Sun God's voice asked in a tone that sounded like playful disappointment, stopping Yui in her tracks.

She turned her head towards the stage, her eyes widening. Apollon stood there with Balder, Tsukito, and Dionysus! All smiling softly at her. The goddess Eir was standing off the side a few feet from the Greek God of Fertility. The human girl felt a new batch of tears mist over her eyes, and it suddenly became hard for her to breathe.

_They were there._

Yui swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and rushed over to the gods, temporarily forgetting about the goddesses, managing to keep her tears at bay and smiled at them, "You're…here."

"Of course we are, Yui-san," Balder said softly.

"We couldn't just ignore our duty to do this, Kusanagi Yui," Tsukito told her matter-of-factly. "Besides…"

"We couldn't just leave you after making you cry last night, Kusanagi-san," Dionysus finished, giving the human girl a wink.

"We're here to help, Yousei-san," Apollon told her brightly, hopping down from where he was sitting on the stage and grabbing her hands. He gave her a sad look and reached up, brushing away a tear that had fallen down her cheek, "We're sorry, Yousei-san. For last night."

Yui felt her face flush a little at the action, but she smiled and wiped her hand across her eyes, "It's okay." She took a step away from the blonde Greek and looked at all of them, "You were only acting naturally. Still…" She closed her eyes briefly, placing a hand over her heart before looking back at the four gods, "I'm glad you came."

"Thor-Thor would have come, too," Apollon told her.

"Oh," she said, feeling slightly disappointed, but perked up after a second. "I'm sure he has a good reason why he's not here."

Balder chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek, "Thor's keeping an eye on Loki."

"He's making sure Loki Laevatein isn't harassing any of the goddesses as a form of acting out," Tsukito stated.

"Oh," Yui repeated, surprised. "What about Takeru-san and Hades-san?"

"Hades is going off about misfortune again," Dionysus commented more nonchalantly than was needed. "But he'll probably be easier to bring around this time."

"And we have no idea where Take-Take is," the blonde Greek added, laughing nervously.

The Japanese God took a step forward, "Totsuka Takeru is torn over this new situation and may be dealing with this in his own way."

Yui nodded. Takeru dealt with frustration in his own way. He was probably on a run to clear his head or using a branch as a sword again to take out his anger in a way that wouldn't hurt others. She nodded again and looked over at the brunette-haired goddess who stood off to the side, "Even if Hades-san and the others won't come, you brought someone who's willing to help."

The Norse God of Light guided the violet-haired girl over towards the goddess, "This Eir, Yui-san."

The green-eyed girl flushed a little and looked away, "Balder, I can introduce myself. And I'm only here because you said Loki wouldn't be."

"Well, that _is_ true," Balder chuckled.

Eir sighed and looked at Yui, bowing her head towards her, "I'm the Norse Goddess of Healing, Eir. And even though I'm only here because I was assured Loki wouldn't be able to prank me here, I'm willing to be of assistance wherever I can."

The human girl smiled, "Thank you, Eir-san."

"Eir!" Nanna called, rushing over and enveloping her in a tight hug from the side, laughing, "I'm so glad you came around!"

"N-Nanna!" The other Norse girl stuttered, embarrassed, trying to break free of her friend's grip.

"You're going to help set up, too, Nanna?" Balder asked, looking at the two goddesses.

The jade-eyed girl let go of the other Norse Goddess and nodded at the blue-eyed god, smiling but staying silent.

Yui looked at the others, who had gathered over to where she and the three Norse Gods were, all giving introductions to those who they didn't know. She silently counted how many of them there were. Besides her, there were four Greeks Gods, three Norse, two Japanese, and one Egyptian. Eleven in total. She blinked, doing a quick recount.

"Eleven," she said.

"'Eleven'?" Persephone repeated, hearing her.

The human girl felt her face heat up as all the gods' and goddesses' eyes turned towards her. She suddenly felt a little embarrassed, "There's eleven of us. That's more than twice as many of us setting up from last year."

"Then this should be a breeze! This will be easy!" Apollon exclaimed excitedly.

"You really never do change, do you, Apollon?" Aphrodite commented, tousling her brother's hair.

"Di-Di!" He laughed.

"Now that we're all here," Tsukito started, "we should set up."

Everyone looked at the Japanese God of the Moon and nodded.

* * *

For the next couple of hours, Yui and the gods who had previously been in Zeus's garden gave the goddesses instructions on what should be done and explained what would happen from there on out. The human girl and her friends—both old and new—started out by giving the auditorium a quick, but thorough cleaning. Not too many mishaps happened during that, although Balder did trip a couple times, spilling buckets of soapy water. One of which just about drenched Ame-no-Uzume and Iabet. After scrubbing down the building, the eleven students went about setting out chairs and preparing the desk on the stage.

Yui wasn't surprised when she saw Tsukito measuring the angles on the chairs, but was slightly startled when she caught the other Japanese Deity making sure the tapestry was completely straight.

The brown-eyed girl took the opportunity to get to know the goddesses better as they set up and observed their relationships with the others. From what she saw, it was more than obvious that Apollon was extremely close with his half-sister, like he was with his brother and uncle. Dionysus seemed more than comfortable with her as well. Even though Persephone wasn't related to them, she seemed excited to be with the other Greeks, and she did seem relatively close to Aphrodite.

The two Japanese Gods seemed somewhat close, but not the way the Greeks were. Tsukito and Ame-no-Uzume spoke to one another like they'd know each other their whole lives, but it still seemed too formal for having grown up together. Both appeared to be perfectionists, though. Yui did see, however, that the goddess snuck a few glances at the God of the Moon when he wasn't looking. She also noticed that the lavender-haired boy was slightly less stoic when he spoke to the Goddess of the Dawn.

The relationships between the three Norse Gods seemed a bit perplexing to the violet-haired girl. She couldn't quite figure things out. Balder was kind to both goddesses, whom he seemed to feel at ease with, but the two Norse girls acted differently when talking to the God of Light. Nanna never said more than a few words to him, instead opting to nod and smile, while Eir would speak more freely. Both girls looked comfortable around the blue-eyed boy, but the blonde girl almost seemed a little awkward around him. Yui did catch the Goddess of Joy blushing a few times after speaking with the Norse boy. The human girl couldn't help but wonder if she might had romantic feelings for her fellow god. She also noticed that Eir was a bit more reserved than the other two Norse Gods and rather liked her personal space, which Apollon, Persephone, and Nanna had just about invaded a few times.

Overall, the relationships between the gods didn't look too bad. Yui wished she'd been able to see how Iabet was around the other Egyptians, but none of them were there. She did interact with the others gods from the other mythologies pretty well, even if she had a bit of a cynical and hardened personality. She wasn't easy to read, but she wasn't causing trouble. And the human girl got along pretty well with her.

Everyone worked well with each other, and Yui was thankful for that. Things felt like they were going by much more smoothly than before, even if she was still worried about the others. During the course of set up, she went to the library to gather a few books on the various mythologies to come up with surnames for the goddesses, as well as less complicated first names for the Japanese girls, giving the names to both Thoth and Seshat when she finished. About halfway through getting the hall prepared, Apollon began writing out what he was going to say as the student representative.

The violet-haired girl didn't think that her name and the gods who had been there previously would have their names called, but both Egyptian Gods of Knowledge pointed out that it wasn't _exactly_ the same academy as before. Since the garden had collapsed completely, it was technically a new school, therefore making all the students new. Yui had to admit, the logic made sense.

After a little more than an hour and a half, the auditorium was ready for the entrance ceremony.

* * *

"The entrance ceremony will now begin," Seshat announced.

"I shall read the names of the new students," Thoth said, looking at the piece of paper he held in his hand. "Hades Aidoneus." He paused for half a second, "Absent… Persephone Kore."

"Here!" The young goddess piped up.

"Apollon Agana Belea," the white-haired god continued.

"Here," the blonde responded.

"Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira," The Egyptian man read, waiting for a moment. "Absent. Kusanagi Yui."

"Here," she responded.

"Susanoo… Totsuka Takeru," he paused briefly again. "Absent. Kushinadahime… Sugashina Kyoko. Absent. Tsukuyomi… Totsuka Tsukito."

"Here," the God of the Moon said flatly.

Thoth didn't look up as he continued to read off the names, "Ame-no-Uzume… Kagura Uzume."

The mint-haired girl nodded slightly, "Here."

"Dionysus Thrysos."

"Here," the said man stated with a half-nonchalant tone.

"Aphrodite Cytherea."

The Greek girl mused to herself quietly as she answered, "Here."

"Balder Hringhorni," Thoth read.

"Here."

"Nanna Setre," was the next name.

The Norse Goddess shifted in her seat a little, "Here."

"Eir Lyfjaberg."

"Here," she answered.

The Egyptian God of Knowledge continued, secretly glad he was at the end of the list, "Thor Megingjard, Loki Laevatein, and Sigyn Gosforth. All absent."

"Iabet Amduat," he read.

"Here," the brunette answered, bored.

"Anubis Ma'at. Absent," he finished.

Seshat motioned towards the front row where the human girl and the gods were sitting, "The student representative will now recite the pledge. Apollon Agana Belea, to the front."

"Yes, ma'am," the blonde responded, standing.

_Good luck, Apollon-san,_ Yui thought as she watched the Greek God walk up the stage, _I know you can do it._

Apollon approached the front of the desk as Zeus stood across him from the other side. He stared at his father with a serious expression as he stopped before him. He and his father stared each other down for a few moments, before the God of the Sun spoke, "I hereby swear. We, the students, enter this academy today. Although many of us have gone through this before, this new situation is truly surprising, and I am shocked by the suddenness of everything once more. It's truly a surprise. Being recalled here with our friends and the goddesses being brought to an unfamiliar place, they must be more confused than the rest of us. And I don't know what will happen this time around."

_That's right,_ the human girl thought, looking at everyone from the corner of her eyes. _The guys feel the same way I do, and the goddesses are like how we were back then. _

"However," the blonde continued with a slight smile, "I know there must be a reason for being here again, even though this garden is not the same as before. Over this next year, not as gods and goddesses but as humans, we will correct the mistakes we have made with each other and repair our relationships. Additionally, those of us who have been here before will continue our studies of humans' history, culture, and love, while helping our fellow goddesses to learn the same. And with our wonderful friends, both new and old, I promise that we will follow the academy's will and graduate. Representative of new students, Apollon Agana Belea."

_Friends,_ Yui thought, a feeling of calm washing over her. _Thank goodness. He sees the goddesses as friends._ An unconscious blush crept onto her cheeks as she smiled softly at him, _Apollon-san, you're always so optimistic. _

Apollon turned around with a bright grin and held a triumphant fist in the air, "Everyone! Let's do our best!"

The room broke out in thunderous applause as the green-eyed blonde finished his speech. The warmth that had slowly made the human girl's heart feel at ease little by little took over her whole body. Her worries and anxieties, though she knew she still had them, felt like they were gone in an instant, as if they hadn't been there. Yui could feel her whole body relax, her stress ebbing away fully.

_I'm not alone,_ she thought, feeling a slight déjà vu as she looked at the gods and goddesses crowding around Apollon, the room still flooded with applause. _I may have just met the goddesses, but I've known everyone else for a while now. And we're all going to spend the next year together working together with everyone towards graduation, living together once more._ She placed a hand over her heart, remembering the crucial detail Zeus had told her. She didn't let it bother her, _Even if I only have one more year with Apollon-san and the others, and only one year to get to know the goddesses, but I'm all right with that. _She smiled at her friends and went over to stand with them, _Even if it's only a year… I'm going to make the most of everything!_

* * *

"It has begun," Seshat mused from behind the curtain on the stage, watching the students carefully.

"Everything starts here once more," Thoth said, also eyeing the gods and human girl.

Zeus walked past the two teachers, "We must weave the future, no matter what tragedy may arise. Again." He looked at the Egyptian Gods of Knowledge, "Let us hope that history does not repeat."

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** Foreshadow alert! Okay, so I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I believe this is the last chapter that I have that is extremely similar to the rest, but there will be little things that will echo the series. I'm trying not to do too much of that, though. Also, if anyone is wondering about surnames:

* * *

**Artemis: **_Khryselakatos Iokheira_ comes from her bow and arrows, likes how Agana Belea do for Apollon, and I thought she ought to have a different last name than her twin because of their estranged relationship.

**Persephone:** _Kore_ is an alternate name for her and means "the maiden".

**Aphrodite:** _Cytherea_ is also another name for her and means "the lady of Cythera".

**Kushinadahime:** Henceforth known as _Kyoko Sugashina_; I randomly chose a first name that started with a "k" for her, and Sugashina is a combination of Suga, which is the place Susanoo built a temple for her in mythology and part of her father's name Ashinazuchi.

**Ame-no-Uzume:** Now _Uzume Kagura_; Uzume comes from the last part of her goddess name, and Kagura comes from the kagura dance, which she is said to have created.

**Nanna:** _Setre_ comes from the Setre Comb, of which her name possibly appears among the runes on it.

**Sigyn:** _Gosforth_ comes from the Gosforth Cross, which she is possibly depicted on.

**Eir:** _Lyfjaberg_ is a hill on which she appears in mythology.

**Iabet:** _Amduat_ is an anthology that she is depicted in.

**Seshat:** Although, I don't mention it this chapter, her surname is _Heliopolis_, which is the location of her main sanctuary.

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** I'm not sure when I'll update again. I haven't decided if I'll give another update Monday, or change my update day to Friday or Saturday after this. I _am_ starting to run out of chapters, since I have written in a while, so I'm not sure. But I'll be back soon! Don't worry. **:**)

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter and is looking forward to the following chapters! Does anyone want to guess what is going to happen next? **;**)

Until next time! Please be kind and please review! _Valete!_


	10. Chapter 9: Outside School

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve!_ All right! We're back to Monday updates. It just makes more sense for me to have just waited a few more days to update and get back into the swing of things. Until I run out of chapters, which might be soon, I will continue to update on Mondays. Unless something dire comes up!

_Thanks Go Out To The Following FanFiction Members For Reviewing:_ **LilweenGalatrass**

_Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **guest**, **Arty, mammime, diana,** and **guest.**

I don't own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_ or its characters. I just own my storyline, and as I've taken my 'OCs' from mythology, I only half-own them.

_Gustate, omnes!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 9: Outside School

A week passed. And things went just about how Yui expected them to. Loki, Artemis, and the other truants didn't show up for class at all, though Thor was still just making sure the God of Fire wasn't causing trouble. The goddesses were all somewhat freaked out by the material they were learning, while the gods weren't quite as overwhelmed. Thoth was still as strict as he had always been, getting irritated at the slightest commotion. Seshat was both less severe and more volatile as a teacher.

The white-haired man would slam his hands on the desk and storm out of the room when he lost his temper. And the indigo-eyed woman would throw erasers and chalk at whoever was causing trouble or slam a yardstick down onto the desk. Dionysus still fell asleep during class every now and then, and Balder would try to wake him, usually tripping or falling in the process. Tsukito's notes were as dense as ever, and Apollon still became unnerved by certain new lessons, which was currently literary devices.

Although the goddesses were struggling some, they all seemed more interested in the classes than the guys had been at first. Persephone was frequently asking one of their teachers to elaborate, which Thoth wasn't very happy about, while Seshat was willing to do. Uzume kept her head down, taking methodical notes, like the other Japanese God, but hers, the violet-haired girl noticed, weren't word-for-word on everything _everyone_ said. They were thorough, but not too much so. Aphrodite didn't sleep like the God of Fertility, but she did space out for the most part, daydreaming about something or other.

Eir looked bored throughout the classes until a stray shuffle of a chair caused her jump a little, probably thinking it was Loki. Nanna appeared to be a model student, taking notes to suit her needs and asking an occasional question. She'd nearly gotten in trouble a time or two when she'd passed a note over to her human friend, asking a question regarding references Thoth made to the previous year. Seshat would call her out to pay attention, and their male teacher would send a warning glare in her direction, sending the Norse girl behind a book in embarrassment. Iabet spaced out whenever the lectures became too long, but otherwise, she was doing about the same as the others. Overall, the violet-haired girl thought the goddesses were adjusting better to school life than the guys had last year.

Still, classes weren't without hitches.

Yui put her head in her hand with a sigh as she walked towards the Student Council Room, feeling like déjà vu was definitely going to become normal over the next year.

During the last class period, Dionysus had fallen asleep again, and Balder tried to shake him awake. Only to result in tripping on nothing, falling backwards, startling the redhead awake in the process as Apollon rushed over the other blonde. The Sun God ended up knocking over his friend's chair into Nanna in the process, which startled her, causing her to fall out of her own chair into Eir, who jumped at the contact. Persephone rushed to them, letting go of pen so quickly that it went flying right into Aphrodite, who was spacing out. That resulted in the Goddess of Love thinking they were being attacked, sending the rest of the class into a panic. Tsukito ended up writing everything everyone said, and Uzume tried to tell him that he didn't need to write all of that out. All the while, Iabet blinked and put her hand in her head, trying to understand what exactly happened.

Things didn't calm down until Thoth slammed his hands on the desk, glared at the students, and stormed out of the room. Yui, of course, went after her teacher, trying to convince him to go back to the class. The Egyptian God was irritated, replying how none of them paid attention and some hadn't shown up to class. She had tried to argue, saying that everyone was still adjusting. Which only resulted in the white-haired man slamming his hand against the wall, pinning her. He told her that there wasn't time for an adjustment period.

That was about when Seshat showed up, commenting about the commotion and telling Thoth to calm down a little. The goddess did agree that it was crucial to get the rest of the gods into class.

Then Zeus decided the change the weather to summer. Again.

Yui sighed again as she came closer to the Student Council Room. Both her teachers had told her it was now summer vacation and to get the others to attend class by the time it was over. Which, if this was anything like last time, would only last until a day.

_Maybe I should ask Zeus-san to keep it summer longer than last time,_ she thought, rubbing the back of her neck as she opened the door. She saw that most of those who had been attending class were sitting around, nibbling on snacks and sipping tea. Eir and Iabet were the only two missing.

"Oh, Yui-san," Nanna greeted her with a smile as she sat down next to the goddess on one of the couches. "Apollon was just explaining the change in weather."

"Yeah, Zeus-san decided to make it summer," she explained with a sigh.

"So we get another early summer vacation?" Dionysus asked, sitting on the armrest of the seat his brother was in.

"'Early'?" Persephone asked from her seat between Balder and Tsukito on the couch opposite the human girl, Nanna, and Aphrodite were occupying, "You mean this doesn't happen so quickly?"

The violet-haired shook her head, looking at the younger girl, "No. Usually weather doesn't change so quickly, unless it's a random heat wave or something. And normally we're in school for a couple months before we get summer vacation. Although they," she motioned to guys, giggling a little, "wouldn't know, since this happened before, too."

"Oh, really?" The blue-violet-eyed girl commented.

"By the way, Kusanagi-chan," Uzume started from her seat across from Apollon, which was recently added to the room, "the 'summer vacation' Thrysos-san referred to, what is that? It's a break, is it not?"

Yui nodded, "Yeah. It happens so that students don't have to endure extreme heat during school, but there are school functions that go on as well."

"What kinds of things happen during summer vacation?" Aphrodite inquired.

"All kinds of things," the human girl continued. "There's a lot people can do to pass the time, like going to the beach or a movie or just spending time with friends. Families take trips together, too."

"Anyway," Tsukito put in, "we need to find a way to get the truants to attend classes."

"Again," Balder added with a sigh. He looked over at the violet-haired girl, "Should we plan another seaside school?"

She shook her head, "I was thinking maybe outside school might be a good way to show the fun side of school this time."

"'Seaside school' and 'outside school'?" Nanna blinked at both of them, "I'm not following what those are."

"They're school functions," Yui explained, looking at the Norse girl. "Both are overnight trips."

"Seaside school is on the beach," Apollon added. "We did that last time."

"And outside school," the human girl continued, "is an overnight trip in the forest or mountains. So I thought we could do an outside school trip this time for a change of pace."

"That's a great idea, Yousei-san," the blonde Greek said with a grin. "It's _kalos_!"

"And if it's the forest," Aphrodite commented, "Artemis is more than likely to come."

Dionysus leaned back against his brother, waving his hand nonchalantly, "As Goddess of the Hunt, she spends all her time in the woods."

The Goddess of Love sighed, "If only she would talk to one of us for more than a minute."

"I'll invite her," Persephone told him. "I'm not related to you, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Apollon smiled and stood, walking behind where she sat on the couch, patting her head, "Thank you, Seph-Seph, but I think I'll try to invite her first. Let me try."

The burgundy-haired goddess nodded, "All right."

"Talking to Arte-Arte might take a little time," he continued, looking at everyone else. "I'll try now. I'll talk to her now."

"That's probably a smart idea," his brother told him.

"Good luck, Apollon-san," Yui encouraged.

The God of the Sun grinned again as he started to walk out of the room, "Thanks, Yousei-san!"

"If he's going to Artemis, I suppose Aphrodite and I will go talk to Hades," Dionysus said as his brother left the room.

"I'll invite Thor and Loki," Balder added. "Thor isn't took fond of snakes, though."

Nanna looked at Yui, "And I'll get Sigyn and Eir, and Eir might take some convincing if Loki's coming."

"If you want, I could help you talk to Eir, Nanna," The blue-eyed god offered.

The Norse girl smiled, nodded, "Thank you, Balder. I'll help with Thor, too." The human girl could have sworn there was the faintest trace of a blush on the Goddess of Joy's face.

"I'll extend the invitation to Kyoko-chan, as well," Uzume spoke up.

"And I to Totsuka Takeru," Tsukito put in.

"What would you like me to do, Kusanagi-senpai?" Persephone asked earnestly, leaning forward.

Yui thought about what the burgundy-haired girl could do for a moment, "Would you like to help me invite Iabet-san and Anubis-san? And help with the rest of the planning?"

The Greek Goddess nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

The violet-haired girl looked at everyone else in the room, "Now that that's settled, why don't we get to work?"

* * *

Apollon hummed quietly to himself, tossing the apple he was bringing as an offering from one hand to the other. He felt pleased that he was trying to make an effort with his sister by being the one to extend the invitation for the outside school. He was trying to begin mending their broken relationship. The blonde just hoped that she would listen; Di-Di had been right in that she hardly listened to anyone for more than a minute. And his twin was rather…rough with everyone. She'd always been more of a tomboy than other goddesses due to being Goddess of the Hunt, but still, she's become more so since she closed herself off from the others. He wished he had known why exactly that had happened. The green-eyed boy couldn't help but think it was partially his fault.

He pushed it to the back of his mind as he walked into the courtyard, looking for his stubborn twin. He found her near a tree, practicing her archery. Apollon smiled slightly to himself, remembering when they were younger and would practice together. Artemis had always been a little more focused than he had been, and her shots were always more precise. She didn't seem to notice him approach as she lined up an arrow. The blonde was silent as he went up close behind his sister as she released the arrow. It was just slightly off the center.

"Tch," she muttered. She reached up over her shoulder to grab another arrow, but stopped when her hand brushed against fabric that wasn't from her own uniform. Artemis scowled and turned around. She let out an irritated sigh, "I should have known it was you." The blonde goddess grabbed another arrow, lined up, and let go, "What do you want now, idiot?"

"Arte-Arte—"

"Artemis," she corrected.

"Arte-Arte," he argued.

"Artemis!"

He grinned, "Arte-Arte."

She sighed and turned to look at him, "You never change. What do you want?"

"Sis," he started, "I want you to come on a trip with the rest of us." He held the apple out with both hands, "Come on the trip, Arte-Arte."

Artemis eyed her brother with slight suspicion, "Why? Are you trying to get me to come to class again?"

"That's part of the reason." He admitted, but then grinned again, "But the trip will be fun. It'll be a lot of fun."

"'Fun', huh?" She repeated as she thought of a way to get her persistent twin to go away. "And what, pray tell, dear brother of mine, what will I get out of this trip and if I start coming to class?"

Apollon blinked, thrown off by her question. He thought about how to answer her as she took his hands, where the apple still rested, and moved his arms to above his head. He was too absorbed in thought to realize Artemis had positioned his hands so that they held the apple perfectly on top of his head. The green-eyed goddess looked one last time as the position of the apple on his head and then grabbed the Sun God's shoulders, moving him to stand exactly in front of the tree they were by. The Greek boy snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his sister start walking away.

"There's lots of fun things that could happen!" He exclaimed, thinking she was leaving, "There's a lot. Classes can be fun, too. Arte-Arte, let me tell you about it. Let me tell you!"

The blonde girl stopped in front of her bulls-eye and turned back towards her brother, taking another arrow from her quiver, "You really _are_ an idiot, aren't you, Apollon?"

"Arte-Arte?" He asked confused as his sister lined up her arrow.

Straight. At. Him.

He looked nervously at her, a bead of sweat dripping down his neck, "You wouldn't really shoot me, would you, sis? You wouldn't, right?"

Artemis's eyes hardened as they locked with her twin's, "I think you know my answer."

The Greek Goddess let her arrow fly.

Apollon's eyes widened as the weapon came towards him, and he ducked to avoid it, slipping onto his back in the process. He stared up at his sister as she came up and put her foot on his chest. He held up his hands in defensive position, "So you won't come to outside school? You won't come on the trip to the woods?"

"My answer st—" Artemis stopped midsentence, her brother's words registering, "Did you say woods?"

"Yeah," he told her nodding slightly from his prone position, "I did. I said that."

"Hmm…" His sister mused, taking her foot away from his chest, allowing him to stand up. She took the arrow that had embedded itself in the tree and pulled the now stuck apple from it. She brushed the fruit off, a ghost of smile crossing her lips, before looking at her twin, looking less irritated than before, "Fine."

"Huh?" Apollon asked, confused.

Artemis furrowed her brow in annoyance, "Do I have to spell it out?" She poked her bother in the chest, "I'll come on this 'outside school' trip of yours."

The Greek God of the Sun blinked at his twin again, before her words registered. He smiled brightly, for a moment, his sister thought she was going to cry. The blonde boy laughed and wrapped his arms around his sister in a huge embrace, "Arte-Arte!"

"Apollon!" She cried, irritated, "Get off!" She tried to push him away, failing to do so, "I said I'd come on this trip! I didn't say I'd attend class! Now! Get! Off! Of! Me!"

* * *

"So you're going to do this 'outside school' thing this time, huh?" Melissa asked as he lied on the table in Yui's room, looking through a magazine.

The Japanese girl nodded, "Yeah. After Persephone-chan and I invited Iabet-san and got her to invite Anubis-san, we went to the school store and ordered food and sleeping bags for everyone. Even though we'll be at a cabin, I thought it would be fun to sleep outside during the trip." She put her hands together and smiled thinking of earlier that day, "Persephone-chan was so cute the way she reacted to how the school store worked. She was really helpful with planning today, too."

"Uh-huh," the doll responded.

"Anyway," Yui continued, "everything should be here in the morning, and we're going to leave right after that."

"Wanted to make the most of it, huh?" Melissa assumed.

The violet-haired girl nodded again, "Yeah."

"I hope Hades and others come this time, too," the doll said.

"Me too," the brown-eyed girl replied. She stood up, "Well, I'm going to go out for a bit."

"Huh?"

She looked back at her guardian and smiled, "I bought another sword today, so I'm going to go practice for a while."

* * *

Yui practiced her swordplay for close to an hour before she put the sword back in its scabbard. She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her brow. She cool night air felt good on her skin, and she could feel her muscles relaxing.

"Sure enough, this never fails to relax me," she said to herself.

She heard the sound of someone gasp in awe and the shuffle of feet, as if to hide the fact they were there. The violet-haired girl turned around and looked for where whoever it was had gone. She caught of glimpse of light aquamarine hair and a peach-colored jacket behind a pillar in the outside corridor. The human girl quietly approached where the Japanese Earth Deity was. She looked around the corner of the pillar to see the light pink-eyed girl standing with her hands clasped over her mouth. The goddess spun around startled when she caught sight of Yui, almost falling in the process.

"Kyoko-san," she addressed, "is something on your mind?"

"Kusanagi-sama!" The other girl exclaimed, "I… Umm…" She looked away, embarrassed, "I was admiring your swordsmanship."

"Oh, this?" She giggled, touching the sword, "Thank you. I've been doing this since I was little." She noticed that the Earth Deity looked worried over something, "Is everything all right, Kyoko-san?"

"Huh?" Kyoko looked at her with surprise, as if she wasn't expecting someone to be concerned about her. She looked away again with a sigh, "It is about the invitation Kagura-sama gave me to that trip you planned. What was it called again?"

"Outside school," Yui told her with a soft smile. "So are you going to come?"

The blunette looked back at her and shook her head, "I do not think I will be." She noticed the disappointed look on the human girl's face and decided to elaborate, "I do not believe I will fit in very well with the others. I am not of the same status as Takeru-sama and the others, so I do not believe my presence will mean much."

"That's not true!" Yui insisted, "You're presence does mean something, Kyoko-san. I'm just a human, but I don't let that bother me when I'm here. You shouldn't either." She looked softly at the other girl, "If you come, you'll see that everyone is really nice. It doesn't matter that you're a different status than Tsukito-san and the others. What matters is who you are. If Uzume-san's invitation makes you hesitant, what if I invited you, too?"

The light pink-eyed girl debated for a moment and then gave a small bow of her head, "Very well, Kusanagi-sama, I will accept the invitations and come on this outside school."

The violet-haired girl smiled at the Earth Deity, "Thank you, Kyoko-san. You won't regret it!"

* * *

Yui watched as Apollon's eyes widened and mist over happily as the two of them and Persephone looked at the others. Everyone had showed up for the outside school trip, including each of the gods and goddesses that had acted out, though they looked rather annoyed. Still, they were there. The goddesses stood apart from the guys, save the Egyptians, who stood near the back of the group together. Anubis looked uncomfortable and was standing behind Iabet. Kyoko was also standing apart slightly from the rest of the girls. The guys, however, were standing all together; those who had refused to come to class again looked less irritated than when the violet-haired girl had last seen them.

Everyone wore the summer uniform. She knew the variation of the guys' summer attires, but the girls' clothing for the season was slightly different, but similar in a way. Artemis, Nanna, and Iabet were in the same summer clothing as Yui was, while Persephone, Uzume, and Eir had the same design, but their blouses were black with white ties. The Egyptian goddess's tie was loose around her neck. Kyoko wore essentially the same uniform she had been, but instead of a peach-colored kimono-like jacket, a sleeveless sky blue one that faded to a blue-white color replaced it. She still didn't wear a tie either, and her short-sleeve blouse was black as well. Sigyn's summer shirt was deep purple with a cream-colored corset-styled vest over it along with an undone white tie hanging around her shoulders. Aphrodite had a white sleeveless tunic with a deep v-neckline. All the girls' stockings weren't as high on their legs either, ending at or below their knees.

The violet-haired girl had asked everyone bring a backpack with their sleepwear and change of clothes, along with water for the hike. Eir also had a first-aid kit in her bag. The sleeping bags and food were already at the cabin they were making home base, since the Greek God of the Sun had taken the liberty to take them there earlier that morning, taking his Pegasus as transport. He had told the brown-eyed girl that he had been too nervous to sleep that morning and thought it would be a good idea, so not as many things had to be carried by everyone. It also helped him figure out the route they needed to take to get to the cabin.

_Thank goodness,_ Yui thought.

"Everybody's here!" Persephone exclaimed, as if reading the other girl's mind to finish her thought.

Apollon turned his body away from the others, but had his head turned so he could look at them. He smiled brightly and started to lead the group, "Then let's go! Let's start outside school!"

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** Hopefully this chapter wasn't too much like the anime. The beginning a little, but hopefully you can forgive me for that! I really is changing now. Also, when I described Artemis trying to get out of Apollon's hug, I kind of imagine the way Syo tries to get away from Natsuki when he tries to force him to wear cute things from _**UtaPri.**_ I used that for the inspiration anyway. Ah, got to love Hiro Shimono...

Although, right now, I'm rather fawning over Yoshimasa Hosoya, Loki's seiyuu. That man's voice... Sorry, listening to one of Sosuke's character songs from _**Free!**_ Yosimasa Hosoya voices him, and I kind of love one of those two character songs. Kind of have had it on repeat on my _SoundCloud_ account for the last three hours... I'm kind of inspired to do another _**Kamigami** _FanFiction from it, too...

Anyway, I hope you all are looking forward to the next chapter. Any guesses as to what will happen during Outside School, which will be taking place over the next few chapters. **:**)

Until I see you all next time, please be kind and please review! They really make my day! _Valete, omnes!_ **:**3


	11. Chapter 10: God Bonding

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve iterum, omnes!_ It's that time of the week again. It's time for the next chapter, which other than a couple of similar lines, is quite different from the anime! I know, right? Finally! Unfortunately, I may have slow updates to every other week until I can get a goodly amount of chapters done within my limited free time within the next week or so. Worse comes to worse, the story will go on hiatus for a little bit. But don't worry; it's not because of writers' block, like with**_ 5D's_**. I just haven't been able to write. Anyways, enough of that!

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFiction Members For Reviewing:_ **LilweenGalatrass** and **JenelleLucia**

_Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **guest** and **Arty**

I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum_** or its characters. If I did, I wouldn't use an infinitive to express _"Mischief of the Gods"!_ All I own is the storyline, and I half-own the goddesses, as they are taken from their respective Mythologies.

_Gustate!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 10: God Bonding

The sun was high in the sky, beating down on the group as Apollon led the way towards the cabin that would serve as the base of the outside school. Yui and Persephone followed behind him, along with Tsukito, Balder, and Dionysus. Artemis walked slightly after her half-brother beside Kyoko, who stayed close to the violet-haired girl while Eir walked next to Thor. Takeru and Loki made up the middle. Uzume and Aphrodite followed behind them with Nanna, Sigyn, and Hades closely after. Iabet and Anubis brought up the rear of the group, the latter following just behind the goddess.

Yui wasn't surprised that the trip started out relatively quiet, with only a few talking with one another softly. She could faintly hear the Egyptian Gods speaking in a different tongue. She listened absently as the burgundy-haired girl next to her chatted quietly with her and Apollon. She looked back several times to make sure no one was lagging behind, and she could see Eir giving an occasional glare to the mischievous god behind her. It was around midday when the heat started to kick in, and things got to be a little noisy with a few people complaining over the temperature. Even when they walked through shady parts of the woods or by the river, the heat still got to them. Especially with the backpacks blocking any kind of cooling they might get from a stray wind.

Although both Takeru and Loki knew that was how human bodies worked, they still complained a little, and Yui thought it was because they were still sore over being re-summoned to the garden. Persephone commented about her legs being a little tired, but didn't make a fuss otherwise. A few of the goddesses with longer hair made remarks about how much it was bothering them. At one point, Artemis turned around and asked the two long-haired Norse boys if they were bothered at all, considering their hair was longer than the rest of the guys and longer than most of the girls. That led to Balder to explain to her about nothing being able to harm him, leaving out that mistletoe could, so the heat didn't seem to bother him. Loki said he was holding in his own complaints for the moment.

The only ones who didn't seem too bothered by the summer heat were Iabet and Anubis. Yui figured it was because they were Egyptian and were more used to it due to the nature of their homeland than the others. Especially the Norse, considering Nanna kept having to stop Sigyn from unbuttoning any more of her blouse and kept trying to convince her to put her hair up. The human girl could see a few other girls trying to fan themselves. Each time one of the goddesses said something about the weather, Takeru would mutter a comment along the lines that they were a little cooler, since they were in skirts instead of pants. To which Artemis would grumble that at least the guys didn't have breasts to cause them discomfort. One time a little too loudly, causing most of the group to blush and look away from any of the opposite sex. A few of the more modest goddesses—Persephone, Kyoko, and Nanna—crossed their arms over their chests, embarrassed by the Greek girl's comment. It made Yui feel a bit uncomfortable herself.

Silence followed for a while after that. Until Iabet spoke up, telling them that Anubis wondered exactly how far they had to walk. Aphrodite added that she was curious if they had to walk the whole way.

Apollon turned his head to look at the rest of the group, "To the cabin. The whole way."

"The journey is important, as well," Tsukito commented. He looked at the human girl, "Isn't that right, Kusanagi Yui?"

Yui nodded in agreement and stopped, looking at the goddesses, some of whom looked slightly worn out by the idea of walking the entire way, "Yes. The trip lasts from the moment we leave school until we get back." She smiled at the rest of the group, "Besides, we should be there soon."

"I hope you're right, Kusanagi," Sigyn commented, reaching up for her blouse buttons again.

"Sigyn!" Nanna exclaimed embarrassedly, grabbing her friend's wrists to stop her for the umpteenth time.

The amber-eyed girl relented and obeyed her friend's wish as the group started to follow Apollon's lead again. Yui could feel the others growing as restless as the two Norse Goddesses. This hike was longer than the one to the beach, and there wasn't much to see besides forest and the occasional stream. The heat hadn't let up much either. The violet-haired girl hoped she had been right when she said that it would be much further. Sigyn wasn't the only who had undone the top blouse buttons; Artemis and Iabet had undone the same number, and Eir had unbuttoned just the one that kept the collar around her neck. Nanna, Persephone, and Kyoko appeared too embarrassed to follow the others, and Uzume didn't seem to think about it. Some of the guys had started to loosen their ties and collars as well.

Yui tried to think of what she could say to get a conversation going or help cool everyone off until they reached the cabin. She thought about the times she had gone on hikes with her friends and brothers and how they had beat the heat and passed the time. Common things. She put her chin in her hand, thinking of something, and slowed her pace considerably.

"Is everything all right, Kusanagi-chan?" Uzume asked her, snapping her from her thoughts.

She looked at the goddess, "I was just thinking of something to pass the time."

"What is it, Yousei-san?" Apollon asked, looking at back at her, as everyone stopped walking again, "What can we do?"

"It's just an idea, but I thought that maybe we could play some kind of word game," she answered.

"'Word game'?" Hades inquired, "A game using words?"

"Yes," Yui responded. "They're great to pass the time during long trips. One of the most played is 'The Alphabet Game'."

"How do you play an alphabet game?" Persephone titled her head in confusion.

"Well," the violet-haired girl replied, "you take the first letter of the alphabet and come up with a word starting with that letter, then the next person says a word that starts with the next. And that goes on until you're through the alphabet."

Iabet put a hand on her hip, "But what alphabet would we use?"

"The Latin Alphabet is pretty standard," she commented.

"'_Latin Alphabet'?"_ Everyone asked in a confused unison.

"Yes," Yui said, slightly taken aback. "It's primarily used in the Western part of the world, but a lot of other countries teach it, especially for an English foreign language class." She looked at the confusion on all of her classmates' faces and remembered that there were four different ethnicities among the gods. That meant that they only knew the alphabet from their own country and an older alphabet at that. Even though she knew Mistress Seshat was going teach them the English language, they hadn't started on that yet. The human girl waved off the idea, "We don't have to play that. There are other word games, too, like 'I Spy' and 'Twenty Questions'."

"Is that where you ask twenty questions?" Loki asked, half-playfully, half-rhetorically.

The human girl furrowed her brow at the redhead's tone, "Yes. One person thinks of a subject or an object, and everyone else has to figure it out within twenty 'yes' or 'no' questions."

"It sounds pretty self-explanatory," Balder commented.

"I think that would be a good way to pass the time until we get to the cabin," Artemis said, startling everyone by her opinion, since she hadn't wanted to do anything with them since they were brought to the garden.

"I agree," Kyoko put in shyly.

"Twenty Questions it is," Thor stated.

Apollon raised his hand excitedly, "I'll go first! I'll go!" Yui giggled silently to herself at the blonde's enthusiasm as a few of the others chuckled at him. The God of the Sun thought for a few moments before he turned around, leading the group again, "I have it. I've got something."

"Who starts the questioning, Weed?" Takeru asked, facing the brown-eyed girl.

"Anyone," she said simply. She looked back towards Apollon, "Apollon-san is what you're thinking of related to school?"

"Yes," he responded.

"Is it a person or an object?" Loki asked sounding bored.

Tsukito looked back at the redhead, "Loki Laevatein, you can only ask 'yes' or 'no' questions."

The Norse God grinned, "And I'm sure you have your perfect notes to prove it."

"You'll never play by the rules, will you, Loki?" Eir asked, rolling her eyes.

"Apollon," Aphrodite started, turning everyone's back towards the word game, "is what you're thinking of have to do with class?"

The blonde shook his head, "No. It's doesn't."

"Then it's a person?" Dionysus assumed.

"No. Not a person either," he grinned.

"So if it doesn't have to do with class or is a person," Hades wondered, "then is it a school event?"

The Greek God of the Sun looked back with a nod, "Yes. That's right, Uncle!"

All three Norse goddesses and both Japanese deities stopped in their tracks hearing this and looked at the Greeks, "_'Uncle'?!"_

"Did he forget to mention, _again_?" Artemis inquired, turning around to walk backwards; the Norse and Japanese girls nodded. She let out an exasperated sigh, "Hades is our uncle. Apollon and I are twins, and they" she pointed to the God of Fertility and Goddess of Love, "are our half-brother and half-sister."

Yui giggled at the other goddesses and looked back at them, "You should have seen my reaction when I found out last year." She looked back at the Egyptian Goddess, who looked calm, "Iabet-san, you don't look surprised."

The dark-skinned girl shrugged, "Lady Seshat told me beforehand."

"I see," the human girl responded, turning back towards Apollon, "How many questions have been asked so far?"

"Four. There have been four questions asked," he stated.

"So we still have sixteen more tries," Nanna stated.

"And we know he's thinking about a school event," Uzume added.

"Agana Belea-sama," Kyoko spoke up softly, "would the goddesses and I know this event?"

The green-eyed teen shook his head, "No. You wouldn't know it, Kyo-Kyo."

'_Kyo-Kyo'?_ She thought, unsure how she liked the nickname.

"Then it's an event we did last year?" Balder asked.

"Yep!" Apollon grinned again.

"That narrows things down," Thor stated.

"Not really, if you think about it," Loki commented. "We did a lot last time."

"Did Loki cause mischief?" Takeru inquired loudly. He smirked at the God of Fire, who glared at him, "That should narrow it down more."

"Mmmhmm, Loki-Loki caused trouble," the Greek said.

Sigyn put her head in her hand, "Loki, how much damage did you exactly do last year?"

The redhead looked back at the amber-eyed girl, "No more than usual."

She sighed, "I'm not even sure if I want to ask what you did."

Hades glanced at the Norse girl from the corner of his eyes, "He did electrocute everyone once."

"Don't tell me," Eir and Nanna said in unison.

"He used the Lovers' Rings, didn't he?" Sigyn inquired.

"Eh?" Dionysus clarified, "He used those before Tsukito and Kusanagi-san?"

"Oh, no, Yui-san," the Goddess of Joy started, "you ended up having to wear those?"

Yui laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "It wasn't all that bad, and Tsukito-san and I got a little closer." _Although Loki-san's reasons weren't exactly necessary, _she thought afterwards.

"He convinced you that you had to become a couple for those to come off, didn't he?" Eir asked, "Instead of a mutual tacit understanding?"

"That would be correct, Eir Lyfjaberg," Tsukito responded.

_Typical Loki,_ All three Norse girls thought, looking at the redhead, who merely grinned, sticking his tongue out playfully.

"Maybe," Nanna spoke up, trying to change the subject, "we should keep guessing?"

The human girl nodded, "That might be a good idea, Nanna-san."

"Apollon!" Persephone chimed, "Besides Loki causing trouble, did any other kind of conflict happen?"

The blonde chuckled, "Yeah." He grinned back at the rest of them, "You're getting closer. You've almost got it."

"'Conflict', huh?" Takeru wondered, thinking back on the first time he and the others were brought to the garden. He looked at the violet-haired girl, a particular event coming to mind, "It can't be…"

"You don't think…?" Balder trailed off, seeming to catch the God of the Sea's thought, "Hey, Agana Belea, this event, did it involve drawing straws to settle the conflict?"

'_Drawing straws'?_ Yui thought, her eyes widening, realizing what the Greek God had decided to think of.

Apollon laughed, "I think you have it, Bal-Bal! You have it."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at her twin, "What does he have?"

"Apollon-san," the brown-eyed girl said, "you're thinking of our play, aren't you?"

"You're right," the Sun God grinned. "You're correct, Yousei-san!"

"What conflict did you have to resolve?" Uzume questioned.

Dionysus smiled to himself at the memories of that play, "We couldn't decide who would play the prince for _Cinderella."_

"Or, rather," Thor started, and looked at all the other guys besides the God of Fertility, "_they_ couldn't decide."

"So who got to be the prince?" Persephone asked innocently.

The blonde Greek grinned again, "I was. I got to be Yousei-san's prince."

"Then what was everyone else?" Eir wondered.

When no one spoke up, Iabet huffed, "It's not as if any of you had to wear dresses."

The guys continued to be silent.

"Oh, don't' tell me!" Artemis cried, doubling over laughing, "Some of you did, didn't you?!"

"Shut up!" Takeru growled, an embarrassed blush tinting his cheeks.

The blonde girl continued to laugh, "I would pay a pretty drachma to see _you_ in a dress!"

Kyoko giggled silently to herself and looked back at the blue-haired god, "I'm sure you looked great in a dress, Takeru-sama."

"Tsukito also had to wear a dress," Loki put in mischievously.

Uzume looked incredulously at the stoic boy, who showed no sign of embarrassment, unlike his brother, "Tsukito-sama? You as well?"

"Yes, and so did Balder Hringhorni," he replied.

"Totsuka-san, you didn't have to mention that," the blue-eyed teen commented, trying to avoid the gazes of the three Norse Goddesses as Eir chuckled softly, Sigyn tried to hide her loud laughter, and Nanna was blushing profusely at the thought, almost as if she was ashamed of the image in her mind.

Yui looked at the others as the laughter Artemis had created started to spread among the rest of the girls. Not long after, most of the guys started to join in, and those who didn't were smiling a little to themselves. Anubis had a confused look on his face, like he wasn't sure what everyone was laughing at, but he shrugged it off and moved behind Iabet a little more. The violet-haired girl felt the tension that had been in the air dissipate, and soon, she was giggling with everyone else.

_I think, _she thought, _that things are going to get much easier._

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** I seriously wanted to do the alphabet game, but then I remembered that the gods wouldn't have used such a thing as the Latin Alphabet or know each others alphabets. The Greeks had the Greek Alphabet, Japanese have Kanji and character system, Norse had Runes I believe, and Egyptians had Hieroglyphics. So these guys kind of burst my bubble...

But that's okay, because I think this worked out a lot better, and I was able to minimally develop some relationships as well as starting to get everyone more comfortable with and interact more with one another. So I hope you all enjoyed this! **:**)

Anyway, I'm quite surprised the popularity this story is starting to pick up, and it makes me so happy to be able to know that everyone enjoys my writing! **:**) Like I said at the beginning, I may or may not start slowing updates simply because I'm going to run out of chapters soon, but I'll do everything in my power to try and not let that happen.

I greatly appreciate all the reviews I receive! Until next time! Please be kind and please review! _Valete!_ **:**3


	12. Chapter 11: Scare Tactics

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve!_ And sorry about the wait. I was both holding out for a couple more reviews, and I really wanted to get another chapter or two done before I updated. Didn't get the reviews, but I did get to a point where I feel comfortable updating. Would have gotten farther, though, if I hadn't decided to re-watch all of _**Diabolik Lovers**_ in one night... Worst mistake ever... Which I'm going to end up making again next month... Anyways!

_Thanks This Week Go To The Following FanFiction Members For Reviewing:_ **SunsetCrystals** and **Avalon Starfire**

_Thanks Also Go To The Following Anonymies:_ **Arty** and **AniMammy**

I don't own **_Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum_**, because if I did... Well, you've heard this mini-rant before. However, I do own the plot, and I half-own the my 'OCs', the goddesses, since I took them from their respective Mythologies.

Well, I've kept you waiting long enough. _Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 11: Scare Tactics

After everyone had calmed down from the laughing fit Artemis had started, the group continued their hike to the cabin for outside school. Yui was grateful that the tension had disappeared and that the gods were interacting with each other more. Not just among their nationalities' either. Even the Egyptian Gods, who had mostly stayed out of the conversations, began to integrate themselves into the group, although Iabet was still translating for Anubis, who was still shy. The violet-haired girl felt pleased when Kyoko, who didn't feel like she was the same level as the others, started speaking with them the tiniest bit more casually. The Greek Goddess of the Hunt was still rough with her siblings, but she was speaking less harshly with them, especially Apollon.

They kept playing "Twenty Questions" to pass the time, until almost everyone had had a turn as an answerer. The game nearly got out of hand when Artemis got frustrated when she couldn't come up with what Dionysus's thought was. Then another time, Nanna and Sigyn had to literally pull Eir off of Loki's back, when she sprung at him during his turn and chose to think of a time he played a prank on the Goddess of Healing. Despite looking rather delicate and being a healer, she wasn't afraid to get angry or become a tomboy with the guys. And the chokehold she'd nearly put the redhead in was no joke. The silver-blue-eyed god didn't seem to regret his choice either.

Luckily, the redhead was the last to go in the group for "Twenty Questions", although Anubis's turn was a bit unorthodox with having Iabet translating for him. After that, Yui taught them "I Spy", which they played until they took a break at a river to rest for a few minutes. Apollon and Persephone had decided to go on ahead to how much further it would be until they reached the cabin, which everyone agreed seemed ridiculously far from the academy.

The heat had let up some, but some of the goddesses were still having issues. Namely Sigyn, though she tried not to complain; even if she kept trying to unbutton her blouse whenever she thought Nanna wasn't looking. The human representative was honestly a little surprised by how much the temperature was bothering the Norse girl. She had asked the auburn-haired goddess if having water down her back might help, and the exhausted girl had accepted the offer. However, when the violet-haired girl went to pour a little of her water down the amber-eyed girl's shirt, Loki had "accidentally" bumped into her, causing the water to be poured on her head and soak the back of her blouse. Although Sigyn said that did feel better than before, she proceeded to chase around the God of Fire, trying to pour the contents of her water bottle down his back.

Which led to a water fight among the others. Of which no one escaped being drenched to some degree.

Once Yui was able to calm everyone down, they managed to get moving again. Many of the gods and goddesses were laughing or in a good mood from the water fight, but some were not. Anubis was frightened again by the occurrence, and Kyoko didn't know how to react, since she was more reserved than the others. Balder was disappointed that his innate ability to keep anything that might harm him away even kept away a fun water fight with his friends. And Iabet wasn't interested in the game, and it rather annoyed her.

When they started moving again, Apollon and Persephone had come back, both brimming with excitement. The cabin was only a few more minutes away, much to everyone's relief.

"Soon we'll be able to really get this outside school started!" The green-eyed god exclaimed.

"Finally," Artemis grumbled, "I thought you had gotten us lost."

"Now, now," her twin replied, "have I ever gotten us lost, Arte-Arte? Have I?"

"No, but there's always a first time for everything," she muttered, falling back to the rear of the group, trying to get away from her always optimistic brother.

"Oh, come on," Nanna said, "don't fight with your brother, Artemis. We're almost there. Aren't you excited?"

"Not as much as he is," the other blonde replied. "I'm only here for the forest."

Takeru looked at Yui, "Hey, Weed, Apollon, what kind of things are we going to do once we get to this outside school?"

The violet-haired girl turned back towards the God of the Sea, "We're going to do a lot of fun things, Takeru-san. Once it's dark enough, we'll make a campfire and do some stargazing, tell scary stories."

"So long as Loki doesn't start the fire," Eir commented, a bitter tone in her voice.

"That time was an accident!" The redhead exclaimed, turning to face the goddess who was now behind him, "I had only just gotten my powers. How the hell was I supposed to control them? I set your hair on fire one time…"

While Yui was shocked to hear about the incident, she decided to somewhat change the subject, "Apollon-san and I were thinking that Loki-san could take care of the barbeque along with Thor-san."

"And we know Bal-Bal will like that," the green-eyed teen stated.

"What about the rest of us, Agana Belea-sama?" Kyoko inquired.

"Most of us are going to prepare the food," Persephone explained, "But others are going to prepare the bonfire, some others might go gather things from the forest, and others will set up and clean the main room in case we have to sleep inside. Oh, and a few people will go fishing, too!"

"Sounds like you planned this all out really well," Hades commented as he walked beside her.

The burgundy-haired girl blushed lightly and looked down, though a faint grin graced her lips, "Oh, no, I didn't do anything special. Kusanagi-senpai did most of the work."

"That's not true, Persephone-chan," Yui commented. "You were a very big help planning this."

The Greek girl's blush only served to increase, and she stayed silent for a few moments before she looked up. Her blue-violet eyes widened, and she grinned. She ran ahead a little, then turned around, "We're here!"

Yui and the others looked ahead as they came to the edge of the forest and saw the cabin. It was similar in style to the beach house they had occupied briefly for seaside school. The wooden building was more than large enough to fit all of them, even if the weather or season turned. The human girl hoped that it wouldn't end up that way. But she had a backup plan for this time already in place, just in case things didn't work out. Regretfully, she and the other thought that they should save fireworks for another time.

The violet-haired girl went to the front of group and turned to face her classmates, clapping her hands together, smiling, "Let's get this outside school started, shall we?"

* * *

Yui looked around the group as they sat around the campfire Takeru had spent almost three hours trying to build. Only to have _Kyoko_ take over and start it within a few minutes after returning from gathering some plants with Artemis and Eir. The Earth Deity wasn't embarrassed when she had built the fire, but was afterward because she had ended up embarrassing Susanoo since he failed to do something so simple. The aquamarine- and violet-haired girls thought they hear him mutter that he was impressed. The human representative quietly watched as the different cultures of gods were awkwardly sitting around, waiting for marshmallows to toast.

She sat between Apollon and Persephone. Beside the green-eyed god were his uncle, half-brother and sister, his twin, and Uzume and Takeru, both of whom were refusing to look at one another for their own reasons. Next to the burgundy-haired girl were the Egyptian gods, the remaining Japanese gods, followed by the Norse gods and goddesses with Loki and Eir as far from one another as possible. Nanna kept shifting uncomfortably as she sat between Balder and Sigyn. It was almost the same way she was shy and never very talkative around the God of Light. Yui was just about convinced that the blonde girl saw the blue-eyed god as something more of a fellow god.

Once the group had finally gotten to the cabin, they had split into small groups to get various things done. The guys on the Student Council had gone out to try and catch some fresh fish, Loki and Thor started the barbeque, and Takeru eventually gave up on the fire and went to gather wood for later. Eir, Artemis, and Kyoko went and gathered some wild plants and a rabbit thanks to the Greek Goddess, while Nanna and Sigyn prepared the food for dinner. The rest of the goddesses, Yui, and Hades cleaned the cabin a little and prepared it in case they needed to use it. Aphrodite looked in a mirror for a couple of minutes each time she found one, which slowed things down a little, and Anubis wandered off somewhere, only returning a few minutes before dinner was started. He still wasn't saying much to anyone other than Iabet and hid behind her most of the time.

The stars started to come out after dinner, and the skies were still clear, so she hoped it would persist until after her current idea was done. She noticed that both Hades and Persephone kept looking up at the stars, almost in tandem, with the younger girl nearly falling off her seat each time. The brown-eyed girl looked back and forth from the fire to the now-bored faces of the rest of the group.

"So how long do we have to wait for these things?" Sigyn asked, breaking the silence, staring at the fire and toasting marshmallows.

Yui looked at her, "You can take them off at any time. It really depends on your preference. But the warmer it is, the better it will melt chocolate if we were having s'mores."

"What are those?" Hades inquired.

"Well, after you toast the marshmallow," she explained, "you put it and a piece of chocolate between graham crackers and eat it kind of like a sandwich. They can be really messy though."

"Unfortunately," Persephone chimed, "we didn't think about doing those when we planned this. Just the marshmallows."

Takeru looked up from his intense concentration on the lightly toasting puffball, "What are these things made of anyway?"

"Sugar!" Apollon responded excitedly, "Marshmallows are made entirely of sugar."

"Ka!" Anubis exclaimed, startling everyone, this being the first time he'd spoken up all day. His face was slightly wrinkled in a combination of surprise, disappointment, and disgust, "Bara bara!"

Iabet wasn't fazed like the others, "He doesn't like sweets."

"Ah?" Loki said mischievously, looking sideways at the other boy, "I guess I'll have to take your share then."

The Egyptian God grumbled something and went silent again.

Eir sighed, taking the stick her marshmallow was on from the fire, "Loki, you like sweets way too much."

"Better than liking bitter things, like Sigyn does," he countered, teasing the amber-eyed girl.

"So what if I prefer dark chocolate to the candy you always have in those unnatural pockets of yours?" The Norse girl retorted, taking her own sweet treat from the fire.

"You know," Aphrodite commented offhandedly, turning her marshmallow to examine the golden coating, "chocolate is an aphrodisiac, don't you?"

Kyoko choked on the sugary puffball and tried to hide her coughs behind her hand as she lightly beat her chest to clear her throat.

Artemis put her head in her hand, "Of course _you'd_ know that…"

"So is wine," Dionysus added with a slight grin.

"Of course _you'd_ know that," the Goddess of the Hunt repeated, rolling her eyes at both her half-siblings.

Persephone looked curiously from the Japanese girl to the blonde girl, "What's an aphrodisiac?"

"It's—" Both the Goddess of Love and God of Fertility started.

"Nothing you need to know about," Hades finished, giving his niece and nephew a slight reprimanding look.

"Nanna Setre," Tsukito commented, "is something the matter?"

"Your face is red," Uzume added softly.

"Very," Thor put in bluntly.

The jade-eyed girl put her hands on her face, a horrified look crossing her face, "Huh?!"

Yui looked concernedly at her, "Are you feeling all right, Nanna-san?"

"Nanna?" Balder asked.

"It's nothing!" She exclaimed, her face turning another shade of red.

_Another blush?_ The violet-haired girl wondered, frowning a little as she took the marshmallow she had toasted and lightly blew on it, _What is she so embarrassed about? _

The group fell silent for a few minutes, quietly eating their marshmallows. No one really knew what to say either; the goddesses were still trying to get comfortable with one another, including with some of the gods. Yui tried to think of an ice-breaker of sorts to get everyone a little more relaxed, like they did with the word games earlier. She felt someone tap her shoulder, and she looked over at Persephone.

"Kusanagi-senpai, would this be a good time to start telling stories?" The young girl whispered.

The brown-eyed girl had almost forgotten about that, "This is as good a time as any." She looked around at the others, "Hey, everyone, why don't we start telling scary stories?"

"I've got one!" Apollon exclaimed.

"Your stories are _never_ scary, Apollon," Aphrodite commented.

"Aww…" he complained, "Di-Di, you and the others never give me a chance."

"Kusanagi," Takeru started, sounding skeptical, "what is this exactly supposed to do?"

She shook her head, "Nothing. It's just something fun humans like to do when we go camping."

"It's not supposed to bring us closer, is it?" Artemis asked, resisting rolling her eyes.

"Yep," her twin stated. "Arte-Arte, doesn't getting scared to get closer to others sound fun?"

"No," she stated bluntly. "Besides, you're a big baby. I bet you won't be able to last more than one story!"

Aphrodite sighed, looking at her redheaded half-brother, "I wished she'd stop fighting."

Dionysus shrugged, "They really are opposite sides of a coin."

Loki looked slyly at the Sun God's twin, "And if he can make it through the first one? What would you do?"

"Oi, Loki," Thor said.

The Greek Goddess looked from the silver-blue-eyed Norse to her full-blood brother, "If he can make it through one of Uncle's true stories of the Underworld without running off scared, I'll sit next to the idiot for the rest of the night!"

"And if he can't?" The God of Fire added.

"Loki-Loki!" Apollon exclaimed.

"I get to leave," she declared, standing up.

Yui looked concerned at the girl, "Artemis-san, this isn't supposed to be a competition."

"Kusanagi," Hades sighed, "she makes everything into a competition with Apollon since they grew apart."

The Greek God of the Sun matched the determined look his sister stared at him with, "If sitting through one of Uncle's stories is what it will take, Arte-Arte, I'll do it."

The older twin blinked, like she wasn't expecting him to be so firm in his decision. He never had been like that before. Then again, it had been a long time since they were on friendly terms; or, rather, since she took interest in her twin. Artemis slowly sat down, trying to keep her surprise to herself. She tried to hide her face with her hair, not wanting anyone to see. The blonde wanted to hide her curiosity, too, wondering if her twin really had changed since she last saw him.

Uzume cleared her throat a little and looked at the God of the Underworld, "I guess you'll start this off, Aidoneus-san?"

"Very well," Hades replied, glancing around the others. "As Artemis has requested, I shall tell a tale of the Underworld…"

Over the course of the Greek God's scary story, Yui had to keep her trembling at bay, trying to not be frightened by the tale. Apollon was tense beside her, his lips pressed together, and several of the others gods were staring wide-eyed in shock at the story, but tried not to seem too scared. The Norse Goddesses had huddled together, clinging to one another. Uzume had visibly paled at the gruesome details, and Aphrodite's nails bit harshly into her palm, trying to remain calm. Artemis looked a little frightened, but not as much as poor Kyoko, who had hidden behind Tsukito. Iabet, whom Anubis had hidden behind even more, was unfazed, like she'd heard something scarier. Persephone was staring intently at Hades as he told of the Underworld. She didn't seem scared, but more curious than anything. Overall, the Greeks looked less frightened than the others, most likely from the fact they'd probably already knew this story.

Then he told of Cerberus eating those who tried to leave the Underworld or those who didn't turn back in gruesomely vivid detail. The Japanese Goddess of the Dawn nearly fainted, and all the Norse girls shrieked. Even Thor had paled considerably, and Kyoko whimpered behind the God of the Moon, who looked disturbed. The burgundy-haired girl beside Yui felt her eyes widen in terror and curiosity, and the violet-haired girl felt her stomach knot up unpleasantly. She unconsciously moved closer to Apollon, who was struggling to keep calm. His twin was hiding her face, and no one could tell whether she was all right or not.

"Ai-Aidoneus," Balder swallowed. "Will this be over soon?"

"Yeah, Hades-san," Takeru agreed, feeling as terrified as the goddesses were, though he would never admit to it.

Apollon grimaced and shook his head, "No, Bal-Bal, Take-Take, I have to see this to the end. But… The story _is_ almost over, right, Uncle? Right?"

"Not even close," The dark green-haired man replied bluntly, and nearly everyone shrank back from him in terror, not sure how much more they could take.

"Actually," Artemis said. "_I'm _ready for this to be over, Uncle. You can stop now."

"But there is much more," he commented.

"_Please_," the blonde girl begged, hating the defeated and whimpering tone in her voice. She looked up and most of her color was gone; while she looked less terrified than Anubis composure-wise, her green eyes were just as scared as the three Norse girls. She stood up and walked over to the Greek God of the Sun, sitting between him and their uncle, "You can stop. I'd rather let my idiot twin win this time than listen to _any_ more of this."

Loki snickered a little, "I guess that means A-fool-on can handle scarier stories than his onee-chan can."

"Sh-Shut up!" She countered, looking away, her face now flushed, "I just don't want this idiot next to me to start pouting if I had won the bet. And the other girls looked like they were going to faint if Uncle told anymore."

"I think you were scared," Iabet retorted.

"Sh-Shut up!" Artemis repeated, refusing to look at anyone.

Yui watched as the blonde girl compose herself and glare over at the Norse God of Fire. The human representative watched the others as they all calmed down from the terrifying story of the Greek Underworld. Persephone looked disappointed that she didn't get to hear the rest of the story. The violet-haired girl smiled softly at the younger girl; nothing frightened her too much. Her curiosity wouldn't allow it. The blue-violet-eyed goddess sighed and sat back, lightly swinging her feet. After a few minutes, everyone had recovered from the tale and were starting to chat comfortably again.

"Kusanagi Yui," Tsukito said after a few minutes of speaking a little with Balder, "is that the extent of telling scary stories?"

She shrugged, "Unless anyone else wants to tell one and everyone is up for it."

Kyoko shyly looked at the brown-eyed human, "May I tell one?"

Silence fell over the campfire as everyone stared at the introverted Japanese girl. No one had expected that from her. The Earth Deity was still hardly speaking to anyone. For her to want to tell a scary story—especially given how she had reacted to Hades'—was incredibly brave. The blunette had her knees up to her chest and looked nervous, though no one could tell whether it was from the fact that she was putting herself out there or from the fact she was scared of her own story.

"I don't have to," the rose-eyed girl commented nearly inaudible, not taking the silence well. "I promise it's not as scary as Aidoneus-sama's."

"Then just start telling it, Kyoko," Nanna told her with a soft giggle, though she, Sigyn, and Eir were still sitting very close to each other. The others nodded in agreement.

The Japanese Deity felt her face flush, a small smile on her face, "Okay, then."

While her story wasn't as graphic as Hades' had been, the soft tone of Kyoko's voice gave her tale an eerie feel to it. Takeru watched her closely, though she didn't notice, recognizing her story. It was about the eight-headed serpent that he had saved her from when they were younger. He thought something was off as she told the tale. It was like she both did and didn't remember it as her own memory. She didn't close the story out with how he had saved her after her seven older sisters were devoured by the beast over the course of several years. The aquamarine-haired girl ended with how she—though she didn't refer to herself personally, to keep it in a story format—is still haunted by the memories.

The Japanese Goddess buried her head into her knees to keep herself together at the end, and Takeru almost felt like he had to do something for her. After all, he had saved her from that terrible event that she still suffered from psychologically. He was about to say something when she looked up a little and made eye contact with him. Her eyes were grateful yet there was no recognition of his part in rescuing her. The cinnamon-eyed teen looked away, unsure of what was going on with her.

"That was a pretty interesting story," Loki commented, unable to stand the strange silence that settled over everyone again. He played with his braid and gave a half-grin, half-smirk, "But let's see how everyone likes this one…"

The Norse Goddesses all seemed to relax, as if they weren't expecting an incredibly disturbing story. Or perhaps they had heard all his stories before and wouldn't be quite as frightened. To Yui, the redhead's horror tale didn't feel as terrifying in the sense of being graphic as psychologically disturbing. The casual tone both did and didn't make the story feel scary. The other gods were somewhat tense, but after Hades' creepy narrative, Loki's felt much more toned down. Everyone was still relatively frightened, but not to the point where they were shrieking and wanting the story to be over. The Norse Goddesses did appear to look a little unnerved by the tale, most likely because it was a true story from their mythology.

"If you think those stories are scary, you're all wimps," Iabet commented once the God of Fire was through and everyone was calming down again, "you'll never be able to handle an Egyptian horror story."

Before anyone could respond, the dark-skinned girl proceeded to tell a tale of labyrinthine pyramids and the terror within them along with gruesomely vivid details on mummification. Just like with Hades' scary story, everyone shrank back from the goddess. The Norse girls were clinging to one another again, visibly shaking, Uzume struggled to keep from fainting, and Kyoko hid behind a perturbed Tsukito again. Aphrodite turned pale, Artemis was actually shaking and inched closer to her twin, and Persephone buried her head in Yui's side, her curiosity no longer helping her stay calm. The human girl was trembling and held onto the younger girl. She wished she could sit closer to Apollon, but he was scared stiff, along with most of the other gods, though Anubis was perfectly fine from his seat behind his fellow Egyptian.

The violet-hair shivered as a wind blew through camp as Iabet started wrapping up her story. She looked up at the sky in relief when the Egyptian girl finished talking, the campfire mere embers. There were a few clouds starting to fill float overhead.

She chuckled awkwardly, "I think that's enough scary stories for tonight."

She could hear everyone who had been scared let out a breath of relief.

"Yui-san?" Nanna asked, shivering from another wind, "What exactly was the point of that activity again?"

"Telling scary stories is just another way for us to become closer with each other," she explained a little more than before. "Humans like to be scared by things. It can be fun, although I really don't like scary movies all that much."

Sigyn crossed her arms over her chest, "Humans sure are strange."

The brown-eyed girl laughed awkwardly again, "Yeah, we can be."

"What some other weird things humans like to do, Kusanagi-chan?" Aphrodite inquired.

"Hmm?" She thought for a minute, "There's a lot. Like playing in the rain—"

No sooner had she said the word when she and the gods heard a loud rumble of thunder, and heavy rain began pouring down.

* * *

Thoth smirked and Seshat sighed as they stood on either side of Zeus in his child-form as he sat on his throne.

"Through trials," the almighty god replied nonchalantly, "humans, gods, and goddesses grow."

"You're merciless," the goddess commented, "aren't you?"

The white-haired man was amused as he looked at the Greek, "As always."

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** So, how was that for having kept you waiting an extra week. This chapter was really fun to write, and I hope that you can possibly see a couple future pairings in here. Next chapter was even more fun to write and definitely has hints for several couples. Especially my favorite one in here. **;**)

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. I'll definitely have another chapter up next Monday! So until then, my devoted readers!

Please be kind and please review! _Valete! _**:**D


	13. Chapter 12: Child's Play

**AnimeKiwi369:** _Salve!_ So, I'm a little sad from the review count... One single review for the last chapter. **:**( I'm sure you have your reasons, but I'm still sad. Oh, well. Just keep telling yourself it's a smaller fandom, Kiwi-chan. Anyway, I hope you're all looking forward to this chapter. I'm not going to be able to update next week, so I hope this lasts you for a bit. **:**)

_Thank You Very Much to Following Anonymy Review:_ **Arty**

I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and I hope you all notice all the hints I leave in here regarding couples. Especially my favorite, who I challenge you all to guess! **;**)

Anyways, I don't own _**Kamigami no Asobi: Ludere Deorum**_ or its characters. I just own the plot, and I half-own my 'OCs', who are all based off of their respective Mythologies.

_Ad fabulam!_

* * *

Back in Session

Chapter 12: Child's Play

It wasn't ideal, but Yui was glad she had come up with a contingency plan in case anything like the rain happened while they were outside. Though she had been more ready for a change in the season than a change in the weather. After the rain began, everyone hurried into the cabin, soaked—except Balder, leading the goddesses to be jealous of him. Everyone decided to change into sleepwear, since it was late and many were getting tired. Once the human girl had changed, she had proceeded to start setting up the sleeping bags, which thankfully had been left inside. Takeru tried to set up a fire in the fireplace, but Kyoko took over again, getting a spark in no time. Some of the stronger gods—Thor—moved the furniture around a little for extra space at Yui's request when she saw how constrained of a space it was.

The cabin was slowly warming up from the fire, but there was little to do once everything was set up and everyone was back from changing. The girls' sleeping bags were positioned on one half of the common room, the guys' on the other. It was slightly unconventional, especially when there were enough rooms to house everyone for the night comfortably. However, having everyone sleep in the same room—even if it was different sides of it to avoid any awkward situations—gave it more of a camping feel. No one was complaining; in fact, most of them seemed excited about the set up.

Yui was glad for it as she stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to fall asleep. After getting inside, most everyone was tired from a long day of outside school and wanted to sleep. Over on the guys' side of the room, there was somewhat spread out, but the girls were closer together, sticking close to the others of their mythology for the most part. The human girl was thinking of something else they could do to try and get the gods and goddesses to interact more with one another and get them to come to class. She thought that if it was still raining in the morning, maybe playing more childish games would help.

_Hide and seek,_ she thought, yawning quietly, her eyes closing, _might be interesting…_

* * *

Takeru felt something tickle his cheek as he slept in a sleeping bag between his brother and Anubis. Something heavy was half on his chest, too. He grimaced, wishing he hadn't been woken up. As interesting as outside school was turning out so far, he did prefer seaside school and going to the beach. Besides, two times Kyoko had showed him up on how to make a fire, though he was impressed by that fact. The last thing he needed now was to lose sleep over something that was tickling him. What was tickling him anyway? The God of the Sea tiredly lifted his hand to swat away whatever was disturbing his sleep, and his fingers brushed against something soft. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and blinked, trying to adjust his vision. He looked down only to see the head of dark brunette hair that belonged to the Egyptian God of Death.

Who was sleeping half on top of him.

The blunette let out a loud, startled cry, sitting up suddenly, causing Anubis to jump in fright and scurry off to another part of the living room. The noise the two of them made was enough to disturb everyone else's sleep. The Japanese boy's face turned red in embarrassment; half because he woke everyone, half because of the strangled cry that had left his throat when he was startled by the Egyptian God.

"Take-Take," Apollon yawned, still half-asleep as he sat up, rubbing his eyes, "you woke me up."

"You and everyone else," Eir commented.

"What the hell, Takeru?" Artemis tried to yell but yawned halfway through her sentence.

"Totsuka Takeru, is everything all right?" Tsukito asked, seeing the look on his younger brother's face.

"It's nothing!" He lied.

"Takeru-san?" Yui inquired, also noticing how red his face was.

The Sea God tried to suppress the blush that only seemed to increase as he was focused upon, "I said it's nothing, Weed!"

Iabet ran a hand through her loose hair and sighed, "I bet sixty gold pieces that he was startled by Anubis, who probably crawled into bed with him."

"Huh?" Dionysus blinked.

Aphrodite looked at the gray-eyed goddess, "He was startled because Anubis invaded his space?"

"Probably," the Egyptian girl replied. "Anubis is a restless sleeper, and he doesn't like sleeping alone."

"Where is Ma'at, anyway?" Balder asked, looking around for the shy god.

Apollon looked for him as well, "Anu-Anu?"

The dark-skinned boy peaked out from behind one of the couches Thor had moved earlier, "Ka bara."

Iabet sighed again, "Yep. That's what happened. Oh, and Takeru, Anubis says 'Sorry'."

The Japanese God looked away, "Tch. Whatever."

Nanna hummed a little to herself, "After that display, I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep for a while."

"Me neither," Persephone agreed, lying on her back and looking at the boys from an upside down angle, hugging a pillow to her chest.

Uzume looked outside, where the rain that had driven them inside had let up. The sky was dark, but slightly lighter than what it should have been in the dead of night, "I think it'll be dawn soon."

Sigyn looked over at the human representative, "Hey, Kusanagi. Is there anything that we haven't done today that could pass the time until the sun rises?"

Yui put her hands together and looked at everyone, "It's just an idea, but it could get us even closer than with what we did earlier. It's a little silly, though."

"What are you thinking, Kusanagi?" Hades inquired.

"I was thinking we could play a children's game, like hide and seek," she told them.

"Oh!" Apollon exclaimed, "I know how to play. Arte-Arte and I used to play that all the time. Didn't we, Arte-Arte?"

"It's Artemis," his twin replied, resisting gritting her teeth. She smirked at him, "You could never win."

"We're familiar with it, too," Thor added.

"I am, too," Kyoko said, a hint of sad nostalgia in her voice.

The violet-haired girl blinked, "Oh. Do all of you know how to play the game then?" All of the gods and goddesses around her nodded, "Oh, good. Then I guess I don't have to explain the rules. So does that sound like a suitable way to pass the time?"

Loki twirled a piece of hair between his fingers, "Sounds childish to me."

"Way to spoil the fun, Laevatein," Iabet commented.

The redhead grinned, "I didn't say I _wouldn't_ play. I just said it sounded childish."

Eir looked sideways at the other Norse girls, "And we all know Loki's the biggest child ever."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, earning laughs from the rest of the room. Although the tips of his ears turned a little red, the blue-gray-eyed god chuckled a little as well.

"All right," Yui started once everyone had calmed down, "who's going to be 'it'?"

"I think since Takeru-kun woke us up, he should be it," Uzume commented.

"That's not fair, Uzume!" The cinnamon-eyed teen retorted.

"I think it's a fair way to choose," Loki added nonchalantly.

The Japanese boy glared at the redhead, growling, "No one asked you, Loki."

Tsukito raised his hand a little, "I will volunteer in Totsuka Takeru's place."

The mint-haired goddess looked at the God of the Moon, "Tsukito-sama, you don't have to do that."

He looked confusedly at the Japanese girl, "But I want to."

Uzume blinked in equal confusion, taken off guard by the lavender-haired boy's response. The entire time they had grown up together, he had never openly said he wanted anything and let his brothers—namely Takeru—do the deciding for him in things like games. She stayed quiet, contemplating the changes that both the Totsukas had gone through since she had last seen them in their realm. It didn't seem all that long ago, but the more she thought about it, it really was.

Apollon stood up and the others, minus Tsukito, followed suit. He grinned at his friend, "Okay, Tsuki-Tsuki."

"Start counting whenever you're ready, Tsukito-san," Yui told him with a soft giggle.

The Japanese boy closed his eyes, "Very well. One… Two… Three…"

As soon as he started counting, everyone started making mad dashes for various parts of the cabin, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Though several goddesses couldn't help but giggle as they ran out of the living area. The cabin was relatively large, and it was easy enough to find places to hide. Some of the gods had an easier time than others; Persephone took advantage of her small size and crawled into one of the kitchen cabinets. Some gods, however, were having issues…

* * *

"Why did you have to come here?! Why my space?" Apollon half-whined as he sat squished between Dionysus and Hades behind a bed in a spare bedroom.

Both his uncle and brother slapped hands over the blonde's mouth as they heard footsteps nearby, unsure if it was Tsukito or not. They hadn't heard the Japanese boy announce that he was starting to look, but his soft voice didn't carry far. So it was very possible he was looking for everyone. After a few moments, the footsteps continued, passing by the room the three gods were hiding in.

"That was close," Hades said.

"We'll all lose if you aren't quiet," Dionysus commented quietly as he and his uncle took their hands away from his brother's mouth.

"It's fine, it's fine," the blonde relented. "Still, why did you choose this place to hide? Why?"

"Because this was the easiest place to hide," the God of Fertility muttered under his breath.

The footsteps came back and the door opened. Tsukito peered over the bed to see the three of them, "Apollon Agana Belea, Hades Aidoneus, Dionysus Thrysos, you've been found."

The God of Fertility sighed, "This is why you were never able to beat Artemis."

* * *

Yui was silent as she hid behind a shower curtain in a bathtub with Artemis. She wasn't sure how she had ended up in the same hiding place with Apollon's twin. But somewhere along the search for finding a place to hide from Tsukito, she ended up in the same room with the golden-haired girl. And now they were sitting squished together in a bathtub, hoping the God of the Moon wouldn't find them. The Greek had her eyes closed, listening for the sound of footsteps.

"He's at the end of the hallway," the green-eyed goddess whispered absently.

The violet-haired girl looked surprised at the blonde next to her, "You can hear that far away?"

Artemis didn't open her eyes, but nodded, "Yeah. If I try hard enough, I could probably find out where everyone else is too."

"That's amazing, Artemis-san!" Yui exclaimed quietly.

The blonde gained the faintest blush, "It's nothing special. I'm the Goddess of the Hunt, so I've learned to hone my senses to help me with that."

"Oh, I get it," the human representative commented.

"I've also learned it's good to not talk all the time," the green-eyed girl added with a hint of arrogance and bitterness.

The brown-eyed girl gave a soft, awkward chuckle, "You're referring to Apollon-san, aren't you?"

"Who else?" The goddess added rhetorically.

"Artemis-san?" Yui questioned, hesitant to approach the subject so soon.

"Yeah?"

The Japanese girl took a deep breath before asking, "Why do you not get along with Apollon-san anymore?"

Artemis sighed and shook her head, slightly exasperated, "I should have known this was coming sooner or later."

"Never mind," the violet-haired human said hastily. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay."

"He's too childish," the blonde commented. "And we have different lifestyles. We're opposite sides of a coin. He's the sun. I'm the moon."

"You're Goddess of the Moon, too?" Yui inquired, surprised.

The goddess raised an eyebrow at the human, "You didn't know that?" The violet-haired girl shook her head, and the blonde sighed again, putting her head in her hand, "How could he, Uncle, Dee-Dee, _and_ Di-Di forget to mention that?"

"Huh?" The brown-eyed girl blinked, "What did you just call Dionysus-san and Aphrodite-san?"

Artemis's eyes shot open, realizing she had just mimicked her brother, "It's nothing! Forget I said anything!"

Yui blinked again and giggled quietly, "I think you and Apollon-san are more alike than you want to admit, Artemis-san."

The Greek pouted and stayed quiet, defeated. The Japanese girl giggled again and fell into a comfortable silence with the goddess, waiting to be found by Tsukito.

A few minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened and soft footsteps came over to the bathtub. The lavender-haired boy pulled back the shower curtain and looked at the two girls, "Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira and Kusanagi Yui, I've found you."

* * *

Kyoko tried to breathe as little as possible, as she hid on the shelf of a bedroom closet, hoping it would hold her. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to be found. She hadn't played hide and seek in years, and it brought up fond, yet bittersweet memories of her seven older sisters who she would always play with before they started disappearing. She was too young to understand what had happened to her sisters until she was the only daughter of Ashinazuchi left. The blunette had been so afraid after finding out her seven beloved older sisters had been devoured by the eight-headed serpent, Orochi. She would have joined them, too, if it hadn't been for a Japanese God, who saved her, but she couldn't for the life of her recall exactly what had happened or who it was. All she knew was that seal on her memory was too strong to be broken, and she wouldn't find out who had saved her anytime soon.

"You'll suffocate if you don't breathe," Takeru grumbled from the bottom of the closet, breaking her thoughts.

The Earth Deity wished he wasn't in there with her, but he had helped her to get on top of the shelf, though she didn't know why he offered. She wasn't comfortable around gods; the rose-eyed girl didn't feel worthy to be around the, being only an Earth Deity, the low class of gods. She didn't mind that she wasn't quite a goddess. In fact, she liked running the shrine her parents were the guardians of and helping keep the mortal realm running. Kyoko just didn't like being around gods; being around them made her feel inferior, and she worried about them looking down on her. The only reason she was on this trip was because Kusanagi-sama had insisted. The blunette had to admit, though, she _was_ having fun.

"What?" She whispered down to the God of the Sea.

"You're not breathing," he told her, irritated. "I don't need you passing out and falling off that thing."

She blinked, "Oh. Thank you for your concern, Takeru-sama, but it is not necessary."

He sighed, "Weed would get after me if I let you get hurt while we're here."

"Why do you call Kusanagi-sama that?" She inquired, trying to look down at him.

Takeru smirked at the Earth Deity, though he knew she probably couldn't see it, "Because she's persistent, like a weed."

Kyoko stayed quiet, not entirely sure she understood his reasons for calling Kusanagi-sama that. The human representative was persistent; the Earth Deity did understand that. The violet-haired girl didn't want to take "no" for an answer when she had invited the aquamarine-haired girl on the outside school trip. And she _had_ been relentlessly trying to get her and the gods and goddesses who were rebelling to come to classes. Still, why would Takeru-sama refer to her as a weed? Maybe it was a way he showed endearment to her? Kusanagi-sama and the gods had all been together for a long time now. If it was used for affection, that made better sense to her.

"Hey, Kyoko," Takeru said, his voice suddenly serious.

"Huh?" She inquired, surprised to hear the tone.

"When you were telling your scary story earlier," he started, "you made it sound like you don't remember everything."

She stayed silent again for a minute, pulling her knees close to her chest, making herself look small on the shelf, "You need not concern yourself with the affairs of an Earth Deity, Takeru-sama."

The God of the Sea kept an irritated growl in his throat, "Fine."

"By the way," the rose-eyed girl questioned softly, "will it be long before Tsukito-sama finds us and everyone else?"

Takeru shrugged, "Ani won't stop until he's found everyone, but I don't know how long it'll be." Just then the familiar shadow of the Moon God stopped at the closet, "On second thought, it won't be long."

* * *

Loki stretched his arms over his head as he and Thor made their way back down to the living area of the cabin, having been found by Tsukito in their respective hiding places. The Norse God of Thunder's tall stature made him stick out easily, and the redhead had been found by coincidence. Normally, he was one of the last ones found, if at all; at least when he and the other Norse had played when they were younger. Sometimes he had hidden so well, the others had to give up and call for him to come up. The God of Fire smirked a little, thinking of one time he, Thor, and Balder had been playing with the girls.

* * *

"Loki! It's not fair how good you are at this game," a child version of Sigyn called up, her hands on her hips, glaring slightly at the redhead as he hung upside down from a tree.

A young Loki grinned down at her and the other four, who weren't as frustrated as the young goddess, "You could beat me if you got better at this, _Princess_."

The auburn-haired girl flushed and pursed her lips together, "I told you," she started, picking up a handful of snow and forming it into a near-perfect sphere, "don't call me that!"

Sigyn threw the snowball only for Loki to dodge it and hop down to the ground. He stuck his tongue out at her and started running, "You'll have to do better than that, _Princess_!"

"Loki!" She yelled, chasing after him, "Come back here!"

A small Eir looked up at Thor, Balder, and Nanna, who all just stared at Loki and Sigyn as they chased each other around the snowy field, "Should we stop them?" The other three didn't look away from the two, but all shook their heads. The young Goddess of Healing looked back at the two, "That's what I thought."

* * *

Loki chuckled to himself as he and Thor started walking down the stairs to the living room. He hadn't thought about that memory in a long time. He didn't think a whole lot about the times he, Balder, and the God of Thunder had spent with the three goddesses. Well, four when Sif was around. The God of Fire tended to think only about the times with the two other gods, not so much with the girls. There were some fun memories there, though. Especially trying to prank or irritate them. Eir was fun to prank, but Sigyn was particularly fun to provoke by calling her "Princess".

"What are you laughing at?" The turquoise-haired teen asked.

"I was just thinking," he replied, "about when we would play hide and seek."

Thor smiled a little, "Oh."

The two fell back into silence as they joined the others who had been caught by Tsukito; all but a few of the party were waiting downstairs. Both Eir and Sigyn looked at the two of them incredulously.

"_You_ of all people lost?!" The Goddess of Healing exclaimed, surprised, pointing at the redhead.

"Where was Tsukito when we played when we were younger?" The amber-eyed girl sighed, her arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled to her chest, "Would have saved me a lot of trouble."

"He only found me by coincidence," the silver-blue-eyed god commented, sitting down somewhat close to the two Norse girls.

Uzume looked at the redhead, "Are you good at this game, Laevatein-san?"

The God of Fire grinned and pointed at the two girls from his mythology's origin, "Just ask them."

Eir let out a deep breath, "I don't think we beat him once."

"And Sigyn would always chase me afterwards," Loki added playfully.

The auburn-haired goddess felt her face flush in embarrassment and looked away, "Not always."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. When he wasn't looking, she reached out with one hand and wrapped the redhead's long braid around it. She gave a soft, quick tug, causing his head to jerk towards her. He gave her a surprised, but irritated look.

"What was that for?!" He exclaimed.

"That one was for always being too good at this game for the rest of us," she stated. Sigyn tugged at his hair again, "And that was for always calling me 'Princess'."

Aphrodite, having been found early because of hiding near a mirror, looked from one to the other and chuckled silently to herself. She turned towards Dionysus, her voice low enough so only he heard her, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say there's something between those two."

The God of Fertility chuckled shook his head, "It's too soon to be meddling in love just yet, sis."

Yui couldn't help but feel a little amused at the display the Norse God of Fire and Goddess of Fidelity had just put on. It was cute, and it definitely showed the human representative that the Norse boys had a closer relationship with the girls than any of them had described to her. The interaction looked like one that had been going on for a long time. She spotted Takeru and Kyoko coming down the stairs towards the living room, the Earth Deity trailing slightly behind. She looked around, taking a headcount of who was there. The only ones that Tsukito had left to find were the Persephone, Balder, Nanna, Iabet, and Anubis.

* * *

The Norse Goddess of Joy felt overwhelming confliction. She both wanted to curse and kiss every form of fate she could think of. However, it was leaning more towards cursing. Why there? Why now? Nanna could feel every muscle in her shoulders tense as she stood with her back to the wall of a small hall closet. Hoping that the extra heat she was feeling was not from her intense blush but from the other occupant of her hiding space.

Balder.

Why did he happen to choose the exact same place to hide from Tsukito? Granted, it had simply been a coincidence, but still. If she had known the God of Light would end up choosing the same place she did, she would have chosen a larger space. The hall closet was incredibly small, even without anything in there. And with two people, the space was suffocating. Nanna wished that it was someone else in there with her. _Any_one else. Anybody but Balder.

Just anyone that _wasn't_ the man she loved.

The blonde girl knew she loved the blue-eyed god. She had loved him since they were children. The jade-eyed girl loved everything about him. Not that he had ever noticed. And Nanna wanted to keep it that way. She knew he didn't feel the same way about her; he loved someone else. She had accepted that long ago.

When Loki had told her, Sigyn, Eir, and their friend Sif, who was around them often, that he decided he would have to kill Balder, they had been shocked. Nanna felt like all hope was lost; she could still remember how hard she had cried to the Goddess of Fidelity about it. And then the three Norse Gods had just disappeared one day. No sign or anything as to where they had gone. For months, time seemed to stand still for her, and if it wasn't for Sigyn, she didn't know what she would do. The two of them and their other two friends had no clue as to what happened to the three boys or if they ever would. The blonde had made up her mind then, however; that she wouldn't stop loving Balder, even if he was dead. When he and the other two returned, she had been overjoyed when they returned. The auburn-haired girl had told her several times that she couldn't remember the last time the jade-eyed girl had looked so happy.

Nanna was going to tell the God of Light her feelings as soon as she had seen he was back, but then he, Loki, and Thor had explained everything. How the God of Light had been able to be saved; how all three of them had spoken affectionately about the human girl who made it all happen. It was after that that she had accepted to keep her feelings hidden. The Goddess of Joy was disappointed, of course, that the God of Light who had stolen her heart slowly over the years loved another. But she was so incredibly happy that the three Norse boys had been able to help the blonde get rid of the God of Destruction _without_ killing him.

Ever since that time, though, the blonde girl couldn't help but feel unbelievably shy around the blue-eyed teen. Well, more shy. She had started feeling awkward and tongue-tied around him since she had realized how much she cared about him. That was why she didn't say much when he spoke to her, tried to just nod or say just a single word, maybe two. It was difficult to try and hide how she had felt, especially with how much effort she had to use to not blush profusely around him, as well as trying to not be a klutz. There were times she tried to avoid him altogether, which had been working until they had arrived at the Academy.

The Goddess of Joy liked it there, though. She liked getting to know other gods and goddesses from other mythologies. And Yui-san, too! Even if she was sad and jealous that Balder had chosen the violet-haired girl to give his affections to, Nanna _was_ eternally grateful for her role in helping to save the one she loved. She could easily see why the God of Light liked her; she was easy to be around, friendly, and unaffected by the blonde boy's innate ability to attract others to him. The human girl had shown him real friendship; she had shown the blonde goddess the same thing…

"I don't think Totsuka-san will find us anytime soon," Balder chuckled softly.

"Y-Yeah," she agreed absently, pressing herself against the back of the closet again.

The blue-eyed god chuckled quietly again, turning in the small space to try and look at the goddess, "This reminds me of when we were kids."

Nanna blinked, though the other blonde couldn't quite see, "Huh? You mean the game?"

"That," he answered thoughtfully, "and there were a few times when we were younger that we would hide from our parents, so we didn't have to stop playing."

The jade-eyed girl thought for a few moments and smiled to herself, some of the same memories surfacing. She tried to giggle softly, "Papa would usually find us asleep when they finally found us."

"And mama would never want to wake us up," Balder added, glad to be able to have fond memories of more than just him, Loki, and Thor.

It had been a long time since he had thought about those times. He and the other two Norse boys spent less time with the girls as they became older. The God of Light had to admit, he missed those times when they were little. Even if they hadn't spent every day with the girls, the times that all of goddesses were around them was still nice. He, Nanna, Thor, Sif, and Eir would always tease Loki and Sigyn behind their backs, saying that they fought like an old married couple and were made for each other. The blonde boy remembered how nice some of the afternoons with just the Goddess of Joy had been, when their parents were visiting one another. It was a shame that they had grown apart as they had gotten older. He and jade-eyed girl had been pretty close when they were little; they used to be teased that _they_ should be married.

Ever since all of them had gotten older, they had started drifting apart. At times it seemed Nanna didn't even want to speak with him; she had hardly said more than a few words at a time to him since returning to the academy. She was still friendly, but it was something off about the way she felt around the blonde god. Even now, as they were stuck in the closet, she was tense. Like she didn't want to be near him. Granted they were in an extremely closed space, but still. Balder wished that she felt more comfortable around him.

Although he didn't want to approach the subject just yet, the blue-eyed teen was curious as to what had happened to the close relationship they had once had. And he didn't want to let this go on for too much longer if he could help it, especially if this was the reason she was brought to the garden.

"Hey, Nanna," he started, quietly.

"Y-Yes?" She answered hesitantly.

"What happened between us?" Balder asked.

"I… I don't know what you mean," Nanna averted her gaze from the God of Light, trying to avoid the subject she had a feeling he was bringing up. "Nothing happened between us."

The blue-eyed god frowned, "What caused our relationship to change?"

"We got older," she replied hastily, uncomfortably.

"Is that so?" He commented absently, sounding dejected. He knew she was lying; he could tell by her tone.

The jade-eyed girl didn't need him finding out. If the conversation kept going in the direction he wanted, he'd find out. Nanna was fine with keeping things the same as they had been before they were summoned to the garden.

The silence that fell over them was stifling.

Balder gave another quiet laugh and tried to take a step closer to the Norse girl. He placed a hand on her head, "You never change, do you, Nanna?"

"Huh?" She questioned, her heart pounding loudly in her chest and her face brighter than a tomato, "Wh-What do you mean, Balder?"

"You've always been quiet when something bothered you," he commented.

"I have?" She blinked.

The blue-eyed god nodded, smiling softly, "Mmmhmm. There were only two people you'd ever tell anything to. Sigyn was one of them."

Nanna looked away, "And you were the other."

"Mmmhmm," he repeated, lowering his head, so he could be eye level with her in the darkness of the closet. "So what happened?"

"We got older," she repeated softly.

"Then why don't we pretend that never happened?" He asked innocently, genuinely wanting to know what the girl was bothered by, "And tell me what's wrong?"

The Goddess of Joy thought for a moment on the proposition, remembering how many times he had coaxed her into telling him something out of his genuine love for those close to and around him. It didn't seem quite as bad to tell him how she felt if they were pretending the rift between them wasn't there. And she could try and lie and say that she _used_ to like him and hide that she was completely head over heels for him. And, wouldn't this take them a step in the right direction towards graduation?

"I guess we could do that," she relented almost silently as the blonde boy backed away from her a little, leaning back against the door. Nanna just stepped towards him again, leaning forward, "Balder, I—"

The jade-eyed girl was cut off by the sound of a doorknob turning. The door to the closet opened, causing Balder to fall off balance, and she lost her footing as well. The Norse boy fell onto his back, and the blonde girl fell on top of him, her face turning redder than before. Both looked up in surprise at Tsukito who was standing off to the side of them.

"Balder Hringhorni," the Moon God said. "Nanna Setre. You've lost."

The lavender-haired teen walked away without saying any more, in search for the last gods who were still hiding. The jade-eyed goddess hastily got up from where she had fallen and turned to hide her face from the blue-eyed boy.

The God of Light chuckled once more as he stood up and brushed himself off, "Totsuka-san is as focused as ever." He looked at the girl from his mythology's origin, "What were you going to say, Nanna?"

"Nothing," she lied, her chest feeling tight. "It really was nothing."

* * *

Before too much longer, every one of the gods and goddesses were down with Yui in the living room. Shortly after Nanna and Balder had arrived after being caught—with the blonde girl doing everything in her power to keep her face hidden from everyone—Iabet sauntered down, tired of hiding and _letting_ Tsukito find her. After her, the Moon God found Persephone half-asleep beneath the sink in the kitchen area. With her, only Anubis was the only one left, and he was found about ten minutes later, having hidden in the most obscure part of the cellar the lavender-haired teen hadn't covered yet.

"Kusanagi-senpai," Persephone yawned, leaning against her, "what are we going to do next?"

Yui thought for a moment, "We could do some other game, if everyone is up to it."

She looked around at the others. Not many looked too enthusiastic over about doing another game. She had to admit, she wasn't in much of a mood to play a second game herself, even though hide-and-seek had been pretty fun. And she had gotten to find out some rather interesting information about everyone, as well. Like the fact Artemis really was more like Apollon than she admitted, and that the Norse Gods had an extremely close relationship, even if they hadn't acknowledged it fully.

The violet-haired girl looked out the glass doors to the deck of the cabin and could see the sun start to peek out from the horizon. Everyone seemed to notice her looking out the windows and followed her gaze.

"It's dawn," Uzume said with a somewhat dreamy tone, smiling to herself.

"I know," Apollon commented softly, yet still excitedly, "let's watch the sunrise outside. Let's watch together, everyone."

"That sounds like a great idea, Agana Belea," Balder agreed. He looked at the human girl, "Don't you agree, Yui-san?"

She smiled brightly at everyone, nodding, "Yes."

The Greek God of the Sun led the short walk from the warm living room to the cool, crisp early morning air of the deck outside. Everyone crowded around to get a good view of the sunrise. A few of the gods and goddesses either sat or leaned against the railing.

"You get to do this every morning, don't you, Uzume?" Nanna asked the mint-haired girl she stood next to.

The Japanese girl giggled silently to herself and nodded at the Norse, "I do." She looked dreamily at the sun rising, "But I'm still amazed by the beauty it creates each day."

"I wish all of us could be as fortunate as you," Hades commented with a small smile at the two girls.

"There he goes again," Aphrodite chuckled. "Mentioning fortune again."

"Uncle," Artemis frowned. "Everyone is fortunate. We just have different forms of it."

"That was well spoken, Artemis Khryselakatos Iokheira," Tsukito praised, "I must remember to write that down."

Eir raised an eyebrow at the god, "Tsukito, you don't _actually_ have to write that down, do you?"

"If it's noteworthy, he does," Thor told her.

"Tsuki-Tsuki writes _everything_ down!" Apollon laughed.

Persephone nodded in agreement, "He has done that since we've gotten here, hasn't he?"

"Does he really?" Kyoko blinked.

Takeru smirked, looking at the shorter girls, "You don't know the half of it!"

"He did it all last year, too," Dionysus added.

Loki scowled slightly down at the Norse Goddess of Fidelity, "Sigyn, why are you leaning against me exactly?"

She looked up at him with an equally irritated look as she sat on the railing of the deck, leaning against his chest, "So I don't fall backwards. Why else?" She let out a small relaxed sigh and murmured under her breath, "That, and you're warm."

"Ka bara bara," Anubis muttered.

Iabet laughed quietly, "I agree."

"Agree on what exactly?" Balder asked.

The Egyptian girl waved it off, "It nothing. Forget I said anything."

Yui looked around at everyone and how relaxed they all seemed to be. They were all interacting together, enjoying this time together. They all looked comfortable with one another. The same feeling she had gotten towards the end of the Seaside School when the four who hadn't initially come to classes decided they would start attending crept into her heart. She had a good feeling about everything again. She smiled to herself as the sun continued rising and went to stand next to Apollon.

He looked down at her with that bright grin of his, "Well, Yousei-san? What do you think?"

She knew he meant the beautiful sunrise, but she had something different on her mind. She looked from him to everyone else to the sunrise, "I think this trip has been a success."

The green-eyed boy smiled softly and looked at the others as well, "I think so, too."

* * *

**AnimeKiwi369:** I hope this can satisfy you all for a while, and I truly hope that you enjoyed the chapters. And I also hope that you started to see the couples start to blossom. Or at least that will eventually happen. **;**)

I don't really have much else to say other than I really appreciate any kind of review and feedback that is left. Granted that it's positive... **;**) Anyway, I'd love hear back from all of you!

Until next time, please be kind and please review! _Valete! _**:**D


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